Could autumn be just around the corner?

As I'm typing this post, 8:04pm CDT, the sun is setting, and the air is bearable enough to be outside without wanting to cause all sorts of havoc to vases or glass within arms' reach. Could autumn be just around the corner? Don't get me wrong, it is still blazing hot during the day, but the evenings are becoming, dare I to say it out loud, pleasant. Indeed, Dallas's high temperatures are now only in the mid-90s, which makes both morning and evening kind tolerable to do things outdoors. Austin is sure to follow close behind, I hope. This has been a truly terrible, horrible summer in terms of heat and lack of motivation caused by said heat. The hottest month of July ever recorded in Austin. That is to say, since records were kept, which is still a damned long time. Elsewhere in the country, they've enjoyed a tame summer, but I don't think we should let that fool anyone. This summer has been hot. This summer has been dry.

Some scienticians have detected the Pacific presence of El Niño, which generally calls for a moderate (read: warm), but rainy winter. Hopefully the rainy part is true, but I would also really like to see the return of cold. Cold is good. Cold means hats and coats. Cold means a few months to revel in the oddity of that which we are not meant to enjoy in Texas. Cold is a means to feel some sense of normalcy before another few months of god-cursing heat. Having been born-and-bred Texan, I can't claim to really know what seasons are, but it would be nice to have more than just "warm" and "hot" seasons. But, what am I saying, this is Austin, in the middle of the bigly big state of Texas. That's not going to happen. One can dream.

I really cannot wait for this particular summer to be over. We are on our way to challenging the record for most 100+ temperature days, and some records just shouldn't be challenged, especially one as embarrassing as this. There's no glory in looking back and saying to kids of the next generation "Oh boy, that 2009... we had the most 100+ days ever! Wouldn't you have liked to have been there?" I guarantee you a sea of blank stares, and maybe evening some snickering.

This heat coupled with having too much time on my hands, I swear, breeds nothing but irritability, irrationality, and an urge for irresponsibility. Luckily, hopefully, it'll be over soon, and the best of the four seasons will be upon us, if only for a few weeks before the birds start chirruping again, and the trees start to bud again, and another baseball season begins again. But we shan't get ahead of ourselves. There is still time we need to sit and endure this incessant, terrible heat.