Let's just sit and talk about the weather...

I don't love New York in the summer.

Okay, so for those of you who don't know, read my profile. I live in New York City (The Baking Apple, as it is being referred to these days with the scorching heat). I'm originally from Texas, where it is MUCH hotter on a MORE consistent basis. So why am I complaining? I will tell you why, and I'll be sticking my foot in my mouth while I'm doing it (thanks be to Krishna for the yoga classes, but this could still get ugly).

When I moved here in January, I was so excited to get the heck out of Texas and up north where I could experience a real winter. Yada yada yada, got stuck inside my basement during the Blizzard of '06, yada yada yada, slipped on a patch of ice and fell flat on my bum, re-injuring my back, yada yada yada, suprise! I hated it. The Spring was gorgeous...more than I could ever hope for in a season. I saw flowers that I have never seen, smelled and tasted honeysuckle walking to the subway in Brooklyn, experienced 65 degree temperatures that hung around for weeks, as opposed to in Houston, where Springtime consists of about a week of nice 75 degree weather, and then BAM! Sauna!

Now it is summertime in New York, and so far, it's been two months of raw discomfort. God Bless Texas and the institution of central air! City slickers who have been around for a while tried to warn me that it can be brutal here, but I just smiled kindly at them, informed them (for the 45th time) that I am from Texas, and that I'm pretty sure I can handle a simple northeast summer. (This is where I begin eating crow). There is no central air, people! And I don't have a car, which means that most of my commute to anywhere is not air conditioned. The subway cars are usually gently air conditioned, but the platforms, where I have been known to wait up to 30 minutes for a train, are not only not air conditioned, but are often way way underground and 10 + degrees warmer than the temperature on the ground. I have a window a/c unit in the room that I am subletting, which is nice, but there is no a/c in the living room/kitchen/bathroom, so I've become somewhat of a cold-seeking hermit. These days, when the temperature is rising to 100 degrees, the carpet and linoleum actually warms up so it feels like I'm walking on a heating pad. The "wood" doors in my apartment are expanding with the heat and humidity and don't close all the way. And the inside lining of my pants are sticking to the back of my legs, which makes it look like less than graceful everytime I get up from my seat.

How many more days until fall? I've heard autumn is beautiful in New York.