“And the mission still stands at the edge of the plateau.
A stone marks the graves where the old cowboys lie.
Asleep in a time, in a town just a youngster
Goin’ hard, goin’ fast, goin’ wild
Rollin’ hard, rollin’ fast, rollin’ by.”Rolling By Robert Earl Keen
Race results are in, and it’s all over now, at least, I hope it’s over for a while. The Texas map was interesting because, early on, the returns predicted McCain winning Texas, but Obama was ahead in the early counts. El Paso: Blue. Borderlands: Blue. Dallas, Austin, San Antonio: all Blue. Even Houston: Blue.
The Missions in San Antonio are a string of National Park sites, preserved and honoring the original European colonists: the Spanish. The Spanish Missions are string of Church/Compound/Fortification posts that were designed to help “civilize” this countryside. New Spain.
We’ve all heard of the Alamo, and everyone thinks of Davy Crockett, and my favorite quote? “You can all go to hell, and I’m going to Texas.” Some summers, though, ask the tourists, they would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between Texas and Hell. I tend to think of this as the promised land, but I’m not always the clearest thinker.
So the Alamo was a mission, pulled from the Catholic “approved” list centuries ago, but then, it was elevated to the “Shrine to the Birthplace of Western American Freedom” in the last century. The other missions in the string? Missions San Jose, San Juan, Espada and Concepcion? Up until the WPA and CCC? Those were in a state of disrepair. Literally, falling down. Roof and dome on one of them? Caved in.
Historically, these missions are invaluable. It’s a slice of life that isn’t all that well-documented. And even to this day, those missions are active churches. Parish, one of those things. There’s a parsonage at one, and what appears to be a convent at another.
Those National Parks sites were resurrected by one of those “socialist, Democratic” outreach things.
Unrelated:
This is NOT a photo-op.