Dina Arevalo, one of the Editors, has a weekly column. Thought I'd share this one with you.
Texas Week
by Dina Arevalo
Spring Break
isn’t just big
business for the
Rio Grande Valley,
it’s also big
news. Having
worked in the
media industry
for a while now,
I’ve covered
my fair share of
Spring Breaks
in the past. And
usually, Texas
Week is the biggest,
best week of all.
It’s during Texas Week
— the week when most
universities and colleges
throughout the state take
their break — that the largest
beach bacchanals can be
found. And back when one
particular sandy hot spot
carried the name of a certain
popular soft drink I was
roaming through the crowd
with one camera hanging
from my shoulder and another
clutched in my hand.
I’d already been taking
photos of the rap battles
and dance competitions
that had been taking place
on stage. I’d also meandered
along the fringes of
the crowd at the water’s
edge, snapping shots of
frat boys playing football
in the shallows and gaggles
of sorors posing for
group photos. But, sometimes
in order to get the
photo you can’t linger on
the outskirts, you’ve got
to dive into the din itself.
As such, I soon found myself
deep in the throng and
amid the combined smells
of sunscreen, alcohol and
less-than-legal clouds
of second hand smoke.
Even in the thick of it you
could find people gathered
together in smaller groups,
laughing together, dancing
together, playing beach
games, etc. As I made my
way between a couple of
groups the path ahead of
me suddenly cleared and I
saw something that made
me laugh. In front of me
stood a young woman with
a very patriotic bikini. It
was a playful homage to
the Texas flag and on the
rear of the bikini bottom our
state’s infamous
motto, “Don’t
Mess With Texas”
was printed
in white block
letters. I asked
if I could take
her photograph
and she agreed.
That image recently
came to
mind since this
is Texas Week.
And though the
week is almost
over, Spring Break isn’t
done quite yet. The message
on that bikini bottom
remains relevant.
We’re a welcoming folk
here in the Laguna Madre
region and there’s almost
nothing we love more than
sharing our beautiful Island
with new people. It’s kind
of hard to not shout from
the rooftops about just
how awesome this place is.
It’s beautiful. It’s warm.
The sand is soft and the water is cool. The fish are
always biting and the birds
sing such a gorgeous chorus
in the mornings you
hardly need an alarm clock.
The sunrises and sunsets
alone are daily proof of the
existence of the divine.
But, it takes a lot of hard
work to keep this place a
magical one. And we need
your help while you’re
here to keep it that way. It
doesn’t take much, either.
Help us keep our beaches
clean by properly disposing
of your trash.
Help
us keep the traffic on our
streets flowing smoothly by obeying directions
from traffic officers . Help
us keep our residents and
other tourists healthy by
letting emergency vehicles
pass. Help us continue
to offer fantastic service
by adopting a little Texan
lingo; “howdy” and
“thanks, y’all” go a long
way ‘round these parts.
In the end, we hope you
will fall in love with our
Island, our beaches and
our bay just as we have.
Just as we continue to do
every day. So, y’all enjoy
your stay, be safe, have
fun and come back soon!
 |
| photo credit: Anthony Medina |
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