Lake Travis was so low that it looked like an archipelago.

Last summer was intolerable — I can’t tell you how depressing it was to see 100 degree temperatures day in and day out like that. It was the warmest summer on record, breaking a record set 156 years ago (the 30 days from June 23-July 22 averaged 89.7 degrees F — that’s a combination of high and low daily temperatures). We were above 100 degrees for 68 days, only one day short of breaking the all time record of 69. It was also a very dry summer — June 2009 saw only 1.03 inches of rain, vs. June 2010’s 4.15.

As of July 12th 2010, it has not hit 100 once. And that’s not that uncommon — Austin didn’t hit 100 at all for several years in the 1970’s. We’re currently trending a few degrees below last year, which puts us slightly above average for the past hundred or so years, but is noticeably better than 2009. I actually feel kind of comfortable in the evenings. It helps that I currently don’t seem to leave the house until 7PM, when it’s much more reasonable outdoors.

My northern readers might still think this is all pretty long and pretty hot. To that, I say, “yes”. We all know I’d much rather have a Seattle, San Francisco or Boston climate to deal with. I deal with the steaminess by listening to this song, over and over:

The Style Council — Long Hot Summer (12″)

Something tells me Paul Weller doesn’t really know what a hot summer feels like.

The problem is that what you are ready to return to doesn’t just reappear in front of you — a night full of friendship, a romantic interest or two, sex, places to be. I have none of that right now. So many of my nights resemble the nights of my early 20’s — just me, my car, my music, and endless empty sleepless nights. Like then, I had just one close friend. Back then, it was Farah, who worked at a restaurant, who I’d drop in on often, and then we’d go back to her place and laugh at how funny but lovely Kate Bush is. Today, it’s my friend Hunter, who works at a restaurant, who I drop in on often, and we go back to his place and sing, “rolling the ball, rolling the ball, rolling the ball, to me?”.

I don’t know how I got past those early 20’s without Farah, and I don’t how I’ll get past these proverbial “six months in a leaky boat” without him, either. They reminded me, during dark moments that I always thought would be the last and the end, that I’m a nice, funny person whose presence is not wholesale rejected. For those like myself who have suffered from chronic depression, socialization difficulties and mood disorders for most of their life, someone like myself never assumes that they’re loved, or even liked. I can’t stress that enough to those who are “mentally sound”. I wake up almost every day wondering who’ll have me back in their lives, and I only go to bed happy if I feel like I’ve earned that right. It almost resets itself daily. Don’t try to question it if you don’t understand it. You don’t have to — besides, it doesn’t hurt to show others you care, right?

I know my time is yet to come, but for now, I just sleep all day and drive my convertible into the sunset, wondering when the proverbial phone of life will ring. Wondering if someday the left turn I take down this road or that road will be the last. I look forward to the day when I can ride off into the sunset, with a good excuse and a future waiting.

“I get up in the evening, and I ain’t got nothing to say
I come home in the morning, I go to bed feeling the same way”

That was a drawing of mine from 1990 or so, back when everything had spiky hair, sunglasses and earrings. And back when Texas had normal temperatures. Or did it?

For example, on July 16, 1990, the high temperature in Austin was 78, and the low was 68. That’s actually well below normal, but then again, today’s forecast high of 102 is well above normal. Last year’s high of 97 was also above average. So was 2000’s, and 2004’s, and 2006’s. Almost every day I click seems to suggest an average closer to 100.

I have yet to experience a single summer where the high in July or August was routinely within a few degrees of 94 and 95, which are the stated high temperature averages for each respective month. Perhaps there was one month out of 10 or 12 years like that, but it’s the AVERAGE. The only way this could make sense statistically is if the previous decades were below 94 and 95, for example, and I don’t find that to be the case across the board. It always seems to be summer that’s out of whack; January’s average high of 59 seems to be within the ballpark of most years.

The all-time record warmest month (both high and low temperature combined) for July in Austin is 89.1 F. The 30-year normal (1971–2000) is 84.2 F.

So far, we are tracking at 88.7 F.

The results speak for themselves.

Seriously, if I thought the heat would have been this bad, I would have become a panhandler in Portland like everyone else is doing. For the record, the average high in August (i.e. next month, and therefore a warmer month) is 95. We have hit 100 degrees or more 23 times this year, and it looks like we will hit 100 each day for at least the next 5 days.

Now, I know that plenty of civilizations survive and even thrive in languid three-digit territory — after all, look at Cairo, Dubai (that’s really just South Korean machinery, British white-collar workers, and Allah’s oil, I know, but I digress), Tucson and Phoenix. But that doesn’t mean I survive or thrive when it’s over 90 degrees by 11AM. That doesn’t mean that I should get used to sweating bullets right after breakfast.

My new car has no A/C at the moment (the bolts for something or other are on back order), but it does have a drop-top, so as long as I go over 55mph, I am not caked in my own perspiration. Either way, it’s a sort of lame homecoming to be back in Austin during its worst heat wave since the 1950’s. In the 50’s, Austin’s city limits ended at Koenig Lane and Ben White, and where I commute from (Cedar Park) and where I commute to (Sunset Valley) didn’t exist at all, except in the post-apocalyptic dreams of exurbanite homesteaders. 50 miles round trip in 100 degree heat still sucks, even in a little blue convertible.