I saw this van in the parking lot of the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. Its front license plate says “Texas Turn-On.” I am multiplying it by five to create an art installation right here.
At the state welcome center on the Sabine River I had seen a granite megalith erected in 1962 by the Daughters of the Confederacy, naming at least that portion of Interstate 10 West the Jefferson Davis Highway. At Santa Monica, where the same highway starts east, it is named the Christopher Columbus Memorial Highway.
Its date makes clear that this megalith is intended to intimidate. I was coming to Texas to celebrate Independence Day by seeing a film about events in that era. There was a Black family picnicking next to the stone, on their way in from Atlanta. Nobody paid attention to it but me. Nobody paid any attention to me staring at it, trying to capture it on my cell phone, turning this way and that.
Axé.
coldhearted scientist وداد 
Interesting. I had dinner at a seafood restaurant in Sabine Pass when I taking a course in Beaumont, Texas. Did you drive along the coastal road to Galveston? I remember a part where I had to take a ferry with my car.
I’ve done that once years ago. I’ve been one the coast more recently on the Louisiana side. The marshes are fascinating. Interesting that you know Beaumont!