SUMMER PLEASURES

THERE’S NOTHING NEW under the sun. Monday after Tuesday after Wednesday after Thursday, the Dallas sun beats down from a crystal-clear sky. Weathermen get so bored, they take to frying eggs on Chevy hoods and explaining the physics of the highway mirage. Newcomers go to great lengths to stay out of the scorching heat, feigning interest in air-conditioned wax museums or ducking into meat lockers and liquor store coolers for breaths of cool air. But for a certain macho set of natives (and some might-as-well-be-natives, too), summer is the season that beats all others. No time but summer has its own salads and sausage and squash. Never does the pft, pft, pft, t, t, t of the lawn sprinkler sound so loudly and alluringly. Summer pleasures are best, and in this issue we’ve assembled some thoughts on our favorites, along with a collection of gear that can make beating the heat all that much better.