Oh the heat

Hello family and friends,

I love Austin. It's a great town with so many fabulous attributes. I almost can't believe that I've lived here for almost 10 years now. I remember going to back to Ohio pretty early on when I lived here, and I visited my high school. I was talking to Mr. Scott, my senior year English teacher, and he was asking where I lived - when I told him Texas, his response was "....why?" I didn't have a particularly good response, but at this point I also can't really imagine living anywhere else....except for now.

I know that we were spoiled a bit last summer. Then, sadly for our family in Florida and California, and from what I understand, there were high pressure weather systems sitting over both the southeastern and southwestern United States which was pulling rain from the gulf and raining over Texas just about every day. While at the time, I thought we were going to just about wash away since it was really soggy, I knew that our relatively low temperatures were a gift from mother nature.

Now, we are paying for all that lovely reservoir filling rain and cool temperatures. This year, that same weather pattern seems to have reversed itself.

I know very well that August in Texas is very much like February was in Ohio. By that time you're fed up with the weather that has been going on forever and feels like its going to continue forever. I fear that this year will not be even that generous.

For about 2 weeks now, we've had the consistent weather forecast of "high of 97, low of 75". In reality I think this has been playing out with a high of something closer to 102, and a low....well that never seems to get all that low. And the little pictures that go along with the predictions for the next week are all bright suns, untarnished by clouds, and of course with no significant variation in temperatures.

I'm fed up.

I want to go to the mountains or possibly the southern hemisphere. I assume that why I've started buying guidebooks again. The weather makes me not want to do anything - a common affliction I believe during the summer in the south. But I want to want to exercise, be about town, and have even the tiniest bit of motivation.

I feel a bit bad for being jealous that Tom gets to travel to places where the temperatures don't head anywhere near the triple digits.