It’s funny (to me) that I’m writing this post outside on the back patio, on one of the first cool mornings I can remember this season. If I didn’t have a broken foot, I’d be pulling my photography gear together and getting ready to go for a hike — probably in George Bush Park.
It’s probably just as well that I’m a tad gimpy right now. (Houston Chronicle)
Houston-area residents […] are sharing habitat this summer with hungry snakes driven from their customary turf by sizzling temperatures and scant rain.
Memorial-Hermann Hospital-Texas Medical Center reports treating an average of two snakebites a week since mid-May. And from January to June, snakebite calls to the University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston’s 28-county poison center jumped 25 percent from last year.
I’m a snake-magnet. I encounter them everywhere I go, and if they’re feeling grumpy, I really don’t need to be out there.
The good news, for those of you who freak out at the thought of snakes, is that the vast majority you’ll encounter around here are not venomous. But every now and again…
There isn’t the slightest doubt in my mind that there’s a cottonmouth out there in George Bush Park right now with my name on it. But snakes aren’t the real reason I’m not going hiking this morning. And since the ortho-guru tells me I can walk a little on my dumb foot, that’s not the problem either.
The truth is, the heat is killing me this year.
Folks, I’ve lived along the Gulf Coast, off and on, since 1973 — but I’ve never seen a summer like this one. And while this coming week is forecast to be in the mid-90s (comparatively cool!), the 10-day forecast shows it heading right back up into the triple-digits by next weekend.
Yuck.
So… I’m about to power down the computer and pack it into a carry-on, along with my trusty Nikon and 3 lenses. I’m off again this morning, heading north — where I’ll be spending time in places like this instead.
Ahhh…. can’t you just feel it? Cool. Fresh.
I’ll be thinking of you. Really I will.
See you in a couple weeks.
(Cross-posted from Polimom, Too.)