One of the hardest things to get used to when I moved to Texas from Michigan was the hibernation pattern. In Michigan you stay indoors starting in October when the temperatures start getting cold and you don’t emerge until Spring – sometime in May. This is normal hibernation for most animals and as a northerner you get accustomed to baking, sorting, cleaning, doing puzzles, etc. You don’t leave your house unless absolutely necessary.

Well, in Texas it is the opposite. In Texas you begin hibernation around June and you emerge around mid-October. Why? Because currently it is 93 degrees outside. When I woke up this morning it was 88. By July I’ll be starting the mornings at 90 degrees and ending my afternoons at well over 100. We will get the required news story that involves frying eggs on the sidewalk, and the cautions about air pollution, and leaving children and pets in cars with the windows rolled up. (Yes, like idiots, somebody does it every year). So, I will be entering my cave for the remainder of the summer. I will only emerge if necessary or if the activity involves a large body of water. Trust me when I tell you that I don’t care how “dry” the heat is, 100 degrees is miserable, and the difference between 90 and 100 is not enough to talk about. I probably won’t even look at another weather forecast until early October because I can tell you the forecast; sunny and hot.

special editor’s note: my tomatoes have officially died. I predicted all my plants would be dead by June and outside of my strawberries I am right on target. Ugh! I hate gardening.