Summer in Texas = Life in hell

I just went out into the backyard to admire the new back steps a carpenter built for us, and I could barely stand to be out there for more than a minute. It's 103 degrees here in Dallas this afternoon. It's going to be this hot every day this week. And it's only July. Just wait till August. Yesterday, our region set a record for electricity usage. Air conditioning.

And look, we're much better off here in North Texas than the folks in South Texas, who are suffering through an incredible drought, and excruciating heat. Excerpt:

The river is flowing at 10 cubic feet per second, Lyons said Wednesday. "Normal for this time of the year is 100 to 200 cfs," he said. "We used to think 100 was low, but the last two years have changed our perspective."

People are comparing the conditions to the epic drought of the 1950s, he said. "It's been so dry it's even killing cedar trees, so you know it's dry."

[snip]

"The last good rain we had was two years ago around Labor Day, and then the faucet shut off," he said.

According to the National Weather Service, the last 22 months have been the driest on record in San Antonio.

If climate change projections prove out, this century is going to be drier and hotter in Texas. I guess I say this most every summer, but I really don't know how much more of this I can take. I spoke one night this week to some Dallas friends who moved to the Northeast last year. I was moaning about the misery here, and how the kids are all housebound because it's too hot, and the air is too dangerous (ozone pollution), to go outside. A. told me that as a lifelong north Texan, she's thrilled to be spending so much time outdoors with the kids in the summer. And I would have seethed with jealousy, except the heat has wilted me too much for seething. Julie just came in from looking at her backyard garden, and said, "It's like the plants are saying, 'Thanks for the water, but really, it's too late for us now.'"

Seriously, are any of you contemplating moving to get out of the way of anticipated warming re: climate change? The Southwest is going to be badly hit. I heard University of Arizona professor Robert Glennon speaking the other night on the Leonard Lopate Show about his new book "Unquenchable," which concerns the present and future water crisis in the US. Pretty sobering stuff. I wouldn't count on living in the Southwest fifty years from now. But it's not just the Southwest, not by a long shot.

Anyway, summer is brutal in Texas always, but I'm finding that I'm sick and tired of being stuck in the house because it's too hot to go outside. I stepped out onto the wooden deck in bare feet, and it was too painful to stand there on wood, given the heat. Damn, I keep forgetting to win the lottery and buy a summer house in Maine!

Back to the point: is summer unusually hot or dry where you are? How are you dealing with it? Would you consider relocating to escape the beatdown?