When is the worst time of the year to live in Texas? Well, it's definitely the summer....but, recently I've been debating that.
Today is the first day of November, and it was 86 degrees (when I checked). Maybe it got hotter, I don't know. Yesterday, on Halloween, I was stung by a bee 10 minutes before the church's fall festival was due to begin. Butterflies were still out, ladybugs were flying around, and I got stung by a bee on the last day of October! They are all supposed to be dead, or hibernating or something by now!
And, yes, bee stings Really Hurt. I have not been stung since I was a kid or something--I knew they hurt then, but didn't know that they still hurt that much now! My hand is still a little stiff today.
So, I present the argument that the worst time of the year to live in Texas is the fall, because summer is gone, we survived the 100+ temperatures for days and weeks at a time, and now we can relax a bit because it's not been so hot. But...we are still sweating. We still have to use the air conditioning in our houses and cars. And...all the lovely fall things cannot be celebrated (no sweaters, coats, boots, scarves, gloves, hats, warm cider and lattes, tea, baking...etc) because it's just not right!
Even worse--is that we had a tease. Last weekend it got cold. Cold enough to get out the girl's Absolutely Darling winter coats that they will wear very few times, and enjoy brisk air as we left the house in the morning. 50 degree weather was WONDERFUL! So beautiful and crisp, clean and felt like FALL. I had youth group after church, but promised Xaris that when I got home, and she woke up from nap we would watch Polar Express and make hot-hot-hot hot chocolate. Ricardo asked if it wasn't a little too early to watch the Polar Express...my response was "nope, because it's cold, and there's no guarantee that the cold will last, so I'll take what I can get!" So glad we did, because it sure didn't last long!
It's 10:45pm, 70 degrees outside, and that is the lowest high temperature forecast for the next 10 days. Today I made quarts of chicken stock, a couple of chicken pot pies, and was going to bake some pumpkin bread but I realized I was too hot, and I didn't want to keep the oven on any longer. I was only making them because I know that it is November, and those are the delicious foods that are supposed to be eaten and enjoyed during the fall! I'm craving fall!
I can easily imagine that next summer, I will once again hold strong to the argument that summers in Texas are the worst, but right now I am feeling the heartache of experiencing just a taste of what fall is supposed to be and longing for more!
