I think I trailed off telling you that I am a hipster in a rosy city and went on to explain the hipster part, but did you also catch that I literally meant “rosy”? I mean I live in “the Rose Capital of the World,” even though I’m not sure to what extremes this title has been proven, christened, and defended, but I like it. It’s what we rural Texans would call a city, with a population just shy of 100,000. It’s nothing compared to Big D (and I don’t mean divorce), but coming from a hometown of barely over 3,000 people, Tyler is a world away from a regular Texas town. Granted, there’s no Forever21, but I’ve survived quaintly without!
In Texas towns and cities smaller than Dallas and the like, it’s relatively simple to be hipster or just stand apart from crowds for people like me, just as easily as it is to slink into the background for shy people like me, so there’s a healthy mix of social exposure and tepid breathing room. The best part about this place is the ridiculous amount of trees. Granted, it’s not even the gateway to the Piney Woods region of the deep east, but there are enough of the staggering beauts for each person to disappear for a week and return valiantly, looking like Treebeard (and perhaps as slowpokedly incoherent, too).
Perhaps a city like this without a metropolis of a mall or a Boston Market (seriously???) would age quickly for its born-and-raised citizens; however, after a short stint in the sprawling metroplex, I realized a city like Tyler is ideal for soaking in astounding nature, stabs at self-awareness, and, of course, getting an education. DFW, Austin, or maybe even Seattle are bound in my future, but for now, I’m content to settle in Tyler, if “to settle” means “love” in an apathetic hipster way, of course.
