Texas and the Drought

I've heard quite a few comments about the drought in Texas and received a couple of emails regarding it. I'll give my opinion on the matter here.

Drought is a pretty horrible thing. It's a slow motion natural disaster. Yet the smart Texan prepares for drought the same as the smart Floridian prepares for hurricanes. Please tell me which part of the nation is immune from any natural disasters at all.

Also, these droughts shake out the "hobby farmers" down in Texas. Those generational ranchers who have prepared for such a thing usually come out ok. In fact, the land we're buying was part of a speculative deal where the buyer snatched it up and then when the drought came on he was forced to lower his price because the ranchers around the land weren't acquiring more.

But greatest of all, I compare it to what is going on in Illinois. Property taxes have risen almost 100% in the four years since we moved here and show no sign of slowing the rate of increase. How is losing $4600 per year to a corrupt and inefficient local government machine who won't let you put so much as a chicken coop up without a permit any less of a disaster than a drought in Texas? I guarantee you that God will relent and send the rain before the government relents and lowers your taxes or removes some of the rules and restrictions governing what you can and can't do with your own land.

But most of all, for us, Texas is home. I have kinfolk scattered all out there between Abilene and Waco and when the rest of the modern world collapses around us, I would rather be thirsty in Texas and among like-minded people and kinfolk than be anywhere else in the world.