DFW

I landed at DFW oh so many decades ago from oh so far away. Together with several literal FOBs (fresh off the boat), we set out to try the quintessential Americana: McDonald’s Big Mac. As we walked the streets of Arlington, a big pick-up truck, with no doors, wizzed by. A young woman was driving, holding a can of drink and with her left foot propped on the side mirror. There was a rifle mounted on the back, and a rack of horns on the hood. We looked at each other, wide-eyed, “Texas!”

Dallas-Fort Worth Airport was new and the largest in the world then. Gates were far away from each other and it was advisable to take the unmanned tram — shining, quiet, clean, and crawling — to go to the other terminal, lest you give yourself a heart-attack running to the next gate. Cowboy Stadium was so big that it hurt my neck looking up at it. Football involved no foot and was played without a ball. Cities declared themselves “dry.” To buy beer, you needed to cross the street to a different city, and couldn’t drink them until you got home. Businesses did not open on Sunday mornings, not even grocery stores. Ice creams, all 31 flavors, were awesome, particularly with all the whipped cream and things on top. And that’s called Sunday for whatever reason. One of those bowls and you could skip lunch. Of course McDonald’s had the best food, quarter-pounder with cheese was my favorite. I could eat that every day, and almost did. On special nights, friends drove a car full of people to watch movies. Tune the radio to the right station and everyone watches from inside the car, all night. That’s called a drive-in.

I was a stranger in a strange land.

I raised a family and became one of them. Much older now, I came back to DFW for business. I would have liked to visit UT Arlington, but knew that I would not recognize anything or anyone. The airport, no longer the biggest, is still huge. I looked out and saw the horizon, a sight that awed me. Growing up in a mountainous island, I never saw one before. So much I have changed, so far I have traveled, and so old I have become.