Maybe there's just something about the searing, boiling heat of Summer in Houston. The grasses are a lovely shade of brown. Trees are bowing ever so gracefully as they wilt and sag. The rise of heat-related strokes and fatalities reminds us all that life is fleeting and every moment is precious.

Yes, my fair city is just full of joy at this time of year. The sweat I build up just moving from my front door to my car is really good for the pores. And I never suffer from insomnia because the heat exhaustion lulls me into a deep, coma like state.

Yesterday the temperature was actually down. Where it had peaked somewhere around 106 degrees in the middle of the week, yesterday was a cool and brisk 96 with a humidity level of something in the 90's. Ah! Refreshing! Much like reclining under the shade of a tropical palm with a fruity drink in one's hand, feeling the cool breeze of the Pacific as our cares drift away on the tides.

There's nothing quite like the feel of pulsating heat radiating upwards from the concrete below your feet. To know that by the smallest miracle of nature your feet could be fried like an egg where you stand... now isn't that just truly amazing? Doesn't that fill you with a sense of awe and wonder?

Houston heat is like a nurturing mother. It sees to our needs. Our weak and old are culled because of a lack of air conditioning. The impoverished find encouragement to seek out comfortable work places. And the overweight are inspired to lose extra pounds simply by sweating profusely as they walk a few feet to check their mail.

I for one am glad to live in this booming metropolis where all one need to do to cook the evening meal is leave it on the front steps. One is remind of Ron Popeil's wonderful rotisserie oven, and his famous catch phrase "Set it and forget it!" Yes, we citizens of Houston, Texas know all about "setting it and forgetting it!" We can cook a beloved pet as easily as a 20 pound roast with only the slightest neglectful gesture!

Here's my tourist pitch! Come to sunny, warm Houston! Sure, we no longer have any tourist attractions (what with Astroworld closing due to bankruptcy), and maybe we're still bulging with New Orleans hurricane refugees and illegal aliens from Mexico, but we're one heck of a sweltering blob of concrete filled with bayous and waterways that are contaminated with the very best of urban pollution!

J. Kevin Tumlinson is the Editor of ViewOnline Magazine and Marketing Consultant for Hat Digital Media. He has lost 3 pounds in sweat just typing this column.