Friday Five: TX Summers

Songbird brings this Friday Five to RevGalBlogPals. This is what Songbird suggests for today's Friday Five:
"But I don't want that to ruin summer for the rest of you. So I invite you to share five things you love--or don't--about summer. The tone is up to you!"

1. HEAT and HUMIDITY! Living in south TX, our summers seem present for half the year, so I am biased. In fact, I have a blog label entitled Texas Heat that has rants and cartoons about how hot it is here.

The lethal thing about living on the coast in warm/hot weather is the humidity. In the winter the humidity helps keep our skins hydrated. Now they really are wet! In fact, my friend KK has a cute story about her young nephew who arrived in town yesterday from WA State--he'd been running around the airport on arrival and suddenly stopped and said: "It's hot. I'm all wet!" He looked at his dripping self in surprise, never having gotten so sweaty up north (which I know is possible, but is not usually a daily event).

I remember in high school and college in Bellingham, WA that we would go out sunbathing and in shorts when it hit the upper 60's. Now that seems "wintery" here.

2. NO SCHOOL! The relaxed atmosphere of having no school has been with me since I was an elementary school teacher and then having four children of my own. With only one (MJ) still in school (college), I like having her come home more often.

Without school in session, I can see teacher friends more frequently. Also, there is less traffic in the early mornings on our streets.

3. VACATIONS! Ever since we got married, we usually have vacations back home in WA State. It was always wonderful for our children to explore parks and do all sorts of outdoor activities up there, as well as getting to know their grandparents. Since both my parents are dead, I am grateful my kids had the opportunity to visit every summer.

AND this summer, CB and I are going to ALASKA! This is a big vacation for us; formerly most of our vacations were to visit relatives. We will have the third week in WA to see our daughters AE and KA, plus a few days in Bellingham to see CB's parents and other relatives.

4. FRUIT! There is more fruit, especially berries. They are more plentiful in stores, as are also grapes, peaches and nectarines. Such abundance is helping me to eat more nutritiously. In WA, the strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries are brimming with flavor, as they are growing there. My parents grew them in their backyard, so the kids loved to pick them themselves. I have been surprised this year that the raspberries and blackberries available for purchase here have had more flavor than in years past.

5. HURRICANES! This is a scary prospect every summer--June 1 to Nov. 1. That's the period when the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean have temperatures that are warm enough to spawn and nurture the growth of big tropical storms. Corpus Christi has not had a big hit since Celia in 1970. We did not live here then; we have heard graphic stories of the damage and difficulties from that storm. Friends who were teenagers then tell us what it was like to have two weeks with no electricity; I would not like to be here for that! And today's water temperature in Corpus Christi is 87 degrees F. Not good.