…being so, well, American. It is October. So the corn stalks are out, reminding us of harvest thanksgiving. Orange pumpkins dot the sidewalks and verandas. Halloween creeps up on us after all, and only the blind or dull and unobservant could miss these brilliant cues. In this area of Texas, which boasts the fastest growing suburban areas in the country, you could be forgiven for thinking there was no heritage to be found, that it had all vanished under a sea of concrete and hidden by strange tar papered roofing. Then you find McKinney, with its old banks dated in the 1860s housing antiques and country fashions, art deco cornerstores and a sidewalk reprieve over a coffee and iced tea, together with a neighbourly chat with complete strangers and you start to think rapid urban growth is OK if this is what is preserved. Throw in some pick up trucks, plenty of drawling Texans, more corn stalks, some rum laden dessert, the occasional farm hack, a growling Mustang with its young driver doing loops around the town square and the picture is pretty much complete. Oops, I should mention McKinney is famous for the 2006 “Texas Cheerleader Scandal.” But you can’t get much more American than that now can you?!
