My BIL is a dyed-in-the-wool Texan, who bleeds burnt orange. Though he spent most of his career in Virginia and Ohio, he always hoped to come back to Texas one day. Then he had kids. When he lugged them to Odessa each summer, which is in the middle of the west Texas oil patch, to visit Grandma and Grandpa, they were not overly impressed by what they saw. So, they chose colleges in Ohio, took jobs in that general area when they got out, and of course, BIL and SIL stayed nearby.
Over the past several years though, I started to catch a glimmer of hope. Niece Megan began traveling to Austin on business, and stayed for a few conferences, including SXSW. Finally she admitted, "Austin is way cool. I could live in Austin!" Of course, those conferences were always in spring or fall. Nephew Geoff and his wife came to spend a few holidays with us, leaving first Chicago, and then Milwaukee, where they were knee deep in snow, and arriving here to enjoy feasts out on the porch, where we dined in balmy bliss. "I could get used to winters like this!" they said.
Alas, all hope is lost. A couple of nights ago, I got an e-mail from Meg. It read something like this: "I am here sweating in your neck of the woods, wondering what the heck is going on? It's 10:30 PM, pitch dark out, and it's 90 effing degrees out!" She's here? In Austin? In summer? NOOOOOOOOOOO! Not now! Not this week, of all weeks, for gawdz sake!
Why not this week? Well, we're makin' history here folks. Usually we have less than a dozen days all summer when our temps flirt with triple digits. We've already hit that number this year, and it's still June. This week, we had seven in a row, and they didn't just flirt, they settled comfortably into the 104 - 107 F. range.
I did my best to show her the good side of summer. We took her to lunch at Kerbey Lane Cafe, where they always have a special seasonal menu, in addition to their regular stuff, with a dozen or more items using locally sourced ingredients. We savored scrumptious Tomato Pie, and amazing Lamb Burgers with cucumber-yogurt sauce, but it did no good. I believe her words were something on the order of "Give it up, Aunt Becky. Ain't never gonna happen!"
Oh, by the way, don't forget to leave a comment, if you wish to be included in next weekend's drawing. I think we will go with this food theme we've been on lately, and it just might include one or two surprises, in addition to a wonderful book!
P.S. Many thanks to yelp.com for the Kerbey Lane sign image above.
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3 comments:
Maybe we can still bring Geoff and Jessica over to the dark side.
Sorry, but I identify with your niece. I lived 62 years in Texas and hated every minute of the summers. The winters, however, are wonderful.
I headed for Oregon when I retired, to avoid the Texas heat. I woke up this morning to 49 degrees with a high today expected to be 83.
Lex: Don't hold your breath.
Linda: Yeah, I know what you mean. I often think of Oregon this time of year, but I'm a person who gets depressed when I can't glimpse the sun each day, so I don't know if that would work.
Both: Your names are in the hat!
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