Chuck Norris – an Honorary Texan

Although the famous martial artist and action film actor Carlos Ray (a.k.a. Chuck) Norris was born in Oklahoma, starring in the TV series, Walker, Texas Ranger has earned him honorary Texan citizenship.

After all, the show ran from 1993 through 2001, and every single one of its 203 episodes were filmed in the Dallas – Fort Worth area in north Texas.

Mr. Norris even paid a visit to the local grocery store in my little hometown near Fort Worth back in 2009. I had just moved here, however, and didn’t find out about this meet and greet event until afterwards. Dang!

My Close Encounter with Chuck Norris

I did, however, have a run in with Chuck Norris, many years ago. I was living in Antwerp, Belgium at the time and the apartment I rented had a big window seat overlooking a busy pedestrian shopping street below.

That window seat provided hours of entertainment, and on weekends the people-watching was phenomenal. One afternoon, my step-daughter and I sat opposite each other in the windowseat. It was a sunny summer Sunday and as we quitely read books, the pleasant murmur of shoppers mixed with the sounds of street musicians and created a cozy atmosphere. (I still miss that window seat to this day!)

Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a man. What stood out about him was that, unlike the other pedestrians casually milling about, this man moved in a very determined fashion. Instead of strolling along, checking out the stores and chatting, this guy was like a one-man SWAT team. Whoever he was, he was clearly on a mission.

I pointed this odd guy out to my daughter and told her, “That guy walks like he thinks he’s Chuck Norris.” (Yeah, I know that’s a weird thing to say, but that’s what I said.)

Shortly after he passed right under us, I called out the window, “Hey, Chuck!” I didn’t even say it very loudly.

Apparently though, it was loud enough, because no sooner did I call out his name than Mr. Norris stopped, whipped around, and looked right at me.

I don’t know if you’ve ever made eye contact with Chuck Norris before, but it was a little intimidating! (And, yeah, in that instant, I could  see that it actually was Chuck Norris the famous movie star, not just some guy who happened to be named Chuck.)

I’m sure I looked as startled as I felt, because after a brief moment, he smiled, gave me a quick wave, then turned back around and resumed his brisk jaunt down the street. (Since another action film actor, Jean Claude Van Damme, is from Belgium, I recall joking afterwards that the two of them were meeting up for a pastry down the street.)

More A to Z blog posts

This was my post for the letter N of the A to Z blogging challenge. While I’ve had lots of ideas for the other letters, I’ve been stuck on N for a while. I finally figured that since I had an anecdote to go along with Mr. Norris, I’d go ahead and make him my N post. Phew!

Tune in tomorrow to see what quirky Texan thing the letter O will bring! (I’ve got a goodie planned!)

In the meantime, click on this link to find out what other A to Z blogging challenge folks are writing about.