Weather

We Texans are wimps when it comes to cold weather. If you have never been to Texas in the summer, you can't begin to realize the breadth and depth of our heat. In North Texas, where I grew up, summer began in May and ended some time in September. The heat reached amazing heights, with many days over 100 each summer. The day may have started out humid, but that usually burned off by lunchtime so that we could sear all afternoon. Oh, and our house and cars did not have air conditioning. I went to schools with air conditioning only 3 of my 12 school year. I learned to hate the heat and swore that I would never live in a house or drive a car unless it could be sufficiently cold at any given time. This means that the house would have to have central air conditioning because a window unit just won't do.

Then I moved to Houston and learned of a new kind of summer. This one begins in April and goes until October or later. Many years, I have had my air conditioner running on at least some days in December. It is almost always humid in Houston, stifling most of the time. When you walk out the door in the morning, you feel like you just stepped out of the shower into the steamy bathroom. But humidity is good in that my skin stays moist and it's much easier to breathe moist air than dry air. And the heat in Houston is lower than in Dallas. In Houston, we may have 3 or fewer days of 100+ temperatures. But the never-ending summer makes it seem hotter for longer.

On Saturday, we had a beautiful day in Houston, with clear skies and highs in the low 80s. I planned to travel to Dallas on Sunday to see a concert with my brother and my nephews. It was an all-day outdoor concert, and my brother told me to wear long sleeves because it was supposed to be cool.

Cool is was not. Freezing ass cold was more like it. It was overcast and windy. It had to be in the 40s, and the wind made it feel even colder. I spent a small fortune on hooded sweatshirts, which made it bearable (we wore them over our original sweatshirts). The copious amounts of beer that I guzzled may have also helped with the antifreeze factor.

You may be laughing your ass off at us for being so cold in the 40s. But we are not used to this, especially on a week after we days of 90+. We simply can't handle the cold or the sudden change in weather.

On to the concert. I am too old for this. Seeing one or two bands would be all right, and I enjoy seeing some of the current bands. Earlier last week, I saw Nine Inch Nails in Houston and had a great time. But spending eleven hours in the freezing cold listening to bands that I had not heard of was a bit of an experience. I had been telling my nephews (ages 15 and 11) that I wanted to take them to their first concert. They had been to one before yesterday, so I didn't make that vow come true. And while they knew many of the bands, I knew only a few. The important thing is that they had a good time. And I enjoyed spending time with them and my brother, when we weren't shivering.

Today I flew back to Houston to a sunny, perfect day. Why couldn't we have had this weather yesterday?

I hardly ever go to concerts any more because the bands I like don't tour too much. When they do, the tickets sell out in 30 seconds, and I'm unwilling to pay scalper prices. Of course, the week my Astros are in the World Series, I have two concerts. I have not been to five concerts in the past 3 years, and I get two in one week. That's the way things go for me sometimes.

Speaking of the Astros, can you believe that they are in the World Series? This city is losing its damn mind. They can't print T-shirts and hats fast enough. Lines form outside sporting goods stores, and the stores sell out every day. It's crazy. Now the Astros need to do their part. They lost games 1 and 2. They love coming from behind and all, but it is making us nervous. We want a win! We want to, at the very least, not get swept.

So, in closing, go Astros!