This Ain't Texas, Ain't No Hold 'Em

This ain't Texas
Ain't no hold 'em
So lay your cards down, down, down, down
~ Beyoncé

And if I were you, I'd keep an eye on that little fella in the pink hat!

A week ago, I went to a birthday party for a two-year-old, my brother's granddaughter, and there were cupcakes with little cowboy hats. Of course, I had to take a pink hat for T. Tiger. I also picked two brown ones up off our table on my way out. So you see, this photo shoot was actually born THEN.

But since then, I've come across some songs and videos from Beyoncé's new country album. And once I heard and saw Texas Hold 'Em, I was hooked. Hey, y'all, I just bought my first Beyoncé song! Yes, first ever!

Now, one part of this title is true and the other part is a lie. Of course, I live in Pennsylvania, not Texas. So the first part is right. But those ARE cards for Texas Hold 'Em. I know because we looked it up.

In Texas Hold 'Em, each player is dealt two pocket cards (not shown to the other players), and then five cards face up, first three, then one, then one more. There are several rounds of betting, with each player making the best hand out of five cards.

Some of the best possible hands are four of a kind and a straight flush. As you can see, our little Pardner there in the pink hat has four Aces, made even saltier by the appearance of a Joker. What, little Tiger? FIVE ACES??? Why, that's practically unbeatable!

Now, let me describe the elements of this scene. We have a Moose, standing in for horses, which are quite popular in Texas, as we understand it. And there atop him is an Anteater, standing in for an armadillo, of which they also have lots in Texas.

If this WERE Texas, we'd have yellow roses galore. But we aren't Texas, so we have yellow daffodils instead. As a nod to the Lone Star state, with full respect, we have a pair of red, white, and blue star-shaped earrings, one on each side of the Tiger, to balance things out.

You just missed one of the outtakes, where the Anteater climbed atop the Moose and both of them fell over. BOOM! Moose goes down! If we're going to do MORE Anteater-atop-Moose kinds of activities, we may have to put the Anteater on a reducing plan. Ahem!

And there to top things off are our four little pals, the Crittergators, who have not been seen around here much lately. While they are ALWAYS with me (they travel in a tiny Altoids mint tin in my camera bag), they have not crawled out of their tin often in the soggy wet conditions I've been photographing lately. I can't say I blame 'em!

And did you notice that our deck of playing cards features TIGERS on them? Well, isn't that fancy! And I advise you to take seriously any player who brings his own deck along. 

Though he be but little, he is fierce!

And now we have to have a song to go with this whimsical scene. Of course, you know what it is. What it HAD to be. Yes, it's Beyoncé with Texas Hold 'Em. Oh, and this one (featuring line dancing) is lots of fun too. Enjoy!