Saturday, August 2, 2014
Houston
Whenever I hear the city name "Houston" I usually think of that old song hit done by Dean Martin back in 1965. It was a catchy tune that got extensive play on the radio. I was a fan of Dino's TV show and his movies and tended to like just about anything he came out with on record.
Another thing that comes to mind about Houston is NASA and the space program. Like most Americans I was transfixed by the space launches. The reports came from the Houston Space Center. Who hasn't heard the line from the film Apollo 13 "Houston we have a problem"?
But then in 1976 I actually went to Houston. I hated it. It was hot and humid and I was miserable during my visit. Each subsequent visit was much the same. I never saw much in the way of the sights as I was working or just passing through, but that icky, sticky climate stuck with me. If you'd have mentioned Houston back then the heat and humidity is all I would have thought about. Houston was never a place I looked forward to visiting.
However that's where I am now as I write this. One of my daughters lives here with her husband and their new baby. Houston is one of my destination spots now. That doesn't change the miserable weather in the summer, but it's a place where we now have to go.
We often hear the cliche about dry heat and I do think it's true. I'm no fan of the 100+ temperatures in places like Phoenix and if I'm in a heat zone like that I tend to keep indoors as much as I can with the air conditioning on high. Add humidity though and that's about as much misery as I can stand. I'll take a dry heat any day.
In a few days we head back to Los Angeles and what is typically outstanding weather. After over 6 weeks away from home I'm ready to go back. It's been a wonderful vacation with some of the best July weather I've ever experienced. I can't complain about this vacation much at all except now we're in Houston.
I'm going to stay inside most of the time I guess. I hope my daughter and her family move closer to the rest of our girls. It wouldn't bother me at all if I didn't have to come to Houston anymore.
What do you think of Houston? Does hot weather with high humidity bother you? Where is your favorite weather? Least favorite?
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Arlee Bird
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I've never been to Houston, so I can't say much about it. I did fly over it once, back in 1970. It looked pretty good from the air.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I now have a daughter living in Houston. She moved there about a year ago. She seems to like it, heat and all. Someday I'll visit her and should have something more relevant to say about Houston, other than "Houston, I think we have a problem."
I have my fill of humidity on the east coast. Texas is not a destination I have much interest in except the panhandle on the old Rte 66, and maybe San Antonio or Austin. My fave weather is in the Pacific NW. Cool, cloudy and rainy. I'm not a huge fan of the sun.
ReplyDeleteI have never been to Texas. Period. I really would like to go. Not sure I want to go in July, but sometime.
ReplyDeleteMaybe this will make you breathe in Los Angeles like a breath of fresh air. Now those are two thoughts I never thought I'd place in the same sentence: Los Angeles and fresh air. But that is another place I've never been... so maybe it is true!
Glad you are getting to spend some time with your daughter and her family. Sorry about the hot weather.
ReplyDeleteI've been through there, but after the muggy heat of New Orleans in July, the heat in Texas was much the same. Not sure if I went through Houston, but I remembered the song.
ReplyDeleteAs a fan of all things to do with space, I've always preferred to visit NASA in Florida. Texas does have a lot of cities with songs named after them (Houston, Galveston, El Paso, etc) So someone must like it there.
Richard-- Wouldn't it be coincidental if my daughter knew your daughter.
ReplyDeleteJoJo-- San Antonio is a fun city, but it can get mighty hot there too. I'd like to visit the NW for a more extended period than I have in the past.
Robin-- I never find fresh air and L.A. to be synonymous.
Susanne-- Just have to deal with the weather and stay in the A/C a lot.
DG-- Texas has inspired many songs as well as much literature and other popular mediums.
Lee
I'm not envying you your trips to Houston! I don't even like dry heat, but I can survive it. Just experienced my first humid heat this summer, and made myself sick. No more jungles for me, and I'm definitely staying on the West Coast!
ReplyDeleteI went to Houston ... Once. It was snowing.
ReplyDeleteWe have family in Houston and I thoroughly enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteever been to Houston, but I have spent some time in Texas. I thought Texas in general was kind of meh!
ReplyDeleteBUT, I understand that you go where family is and that makes it OK. Although, I'm with you; it would be nice if they could congregate in the same place and make those visits a teeny bit easier.
As for the hot, sticky, icky, I did my time on the coast in Florida (two years) and hope to never go back. It's funny that the three years I spent in the Caribbean were not nearly as hot and humid. I'm told that's because it was a small island and you always had a sew breeze as opposed to a land breeze. A lot of it may have been 'state of mind'.
Whew! Blogger, what are ya doing to me. I proofed that comment before I hit publish and it was all there and spelled correctly - well maybe that sew breeze got by me, but the first part should have said 'I've never'.
ReplyDeleteI've never been to Houston, and wet hot is hard. Hope you enjoy your visit though.
ReplyDeleteRebecca-- Humidity tends to make me feel a bit ill as well.
ReplyDeleteShelly-- I could go for some snow right now though the traffic would probably be horrible since a lot of folks here don't know how to drive in snowy weather.
Karen-- I doubt whether I'd come to Houston if not for family or work.
FAE-- State of mind can make a lot of things more bearable. A/C also helps with heat and humidity.
Liza-- For the most part it's been a good visit, but I'm ready for home. Been away for a long time know.
Lee
I know a couple people who live in Houston but luckily they're not folks I'm likely to visit. Like many people, I mostly associate the city with NASA.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of Houston, I think of...
ReplyDeleteLightnin' Hopkins.
And, for the record, Phoenix ain't the "dry heat" that it used to be... that it was when I moved here in early 1995.
The weather has definitely changed in a couple of different ways.
Must be that "Global Warming".
Bwah-Ha-Ha-Ha!
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
I've only been to Dallas and Texarkana (is that even Texas?).
ReplyDeleteBTW, in grade school when we played dress up and grown ups, Dean Martin was my husband and I was his wife Jeanne.
I've heard Houston was built on forested land, prairie, and…wait for it…marshes and swamp. So the city earns its wet heat naturally. And I can do without it, thank you very much. These last few days of humidity remind me of Miami. If I wanted to visit it again, I'd have bought a ticket. Will be glad to see it go ;-).
ReplyDeletep.s., I do like Dino's Houston, though.
LD-- Where my daughter lives has NASA facilities all around and even many of the streets are named after NASA and space things.
ReplyDeleteSTMC-- Still Phoenix is drier than Houston. The weather in Houston was stifling.
Teresa-- I don't think I've ever heard of a kid role-playing Dean Martin. Fun.
Leo-- There is still much of that marsh and scrub forest land in the undeveloped parts of the city. Pretty to look at, but it doesn't do much for the air environment.
Lee
I've lived with heat + humidity for decades and I still don't like it!!
ReplyDeleteI've lived in heat + humidity for decades and I still hate it!
ReplyDeleteDean Martin was a big heat when we were at Uni...used to listen to him often.