Latest / The Dry Line Podcast / A Guide to Surviving a Single Day inside Oklahoma's Summer Inferno

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A Guide to Surviving a Single Day inside Oklahoma's Summer Inferno · The Dry Line Podcast

• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to The Dry Line Podcast,
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: OKC's home for thoughtful appreciation and criticism of its mercurial weather,
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: sacred sports, and damn fine people.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Hosted by The Dry Line's editor-in-chief, me, Ryan Fightmaster.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Starting a new tradition around here.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Each week, I'm going to lead the show with the best thing I saw this week in OKC culture.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Not a headline grabber, but definitely something worthy of our appreciation.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: And this week, I want to focus on a piece I saw in 4 or 5 Magazine about my friend Paul Lewis.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Paul, just a few years ago,
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: was selling real estate in Edmond when he realized he had
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: to go do something more meaningful with his life.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: And he had to learn how to be a sculptor.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Selling real estate.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Commit your whole life to becoming a sculptor.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: This has all happened within the last five years for Paul.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: He started small,
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: then took on some bigger projects,
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: then went out to Europe and Greece and Italy
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: and completed two different residency programs in sculpting.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Now he's working on commission pieces out of his studio in Austin,
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: getting interviewed by 4 or 5 Magazine, Taking on jobs all over the place.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I just want to focus on that because it's always good to see someone
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: from around here take a big swing at their dream and connect.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Shout out to 4 or 5 Magazine for doing this kind of highlighted storytelling.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Paul's also an inspiring follow on the socials too.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: You can find him at Paul Lewis Art anywhere.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: And soon you'll find one of his commissioned memorial sculptures at the soon to open
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: in 2027 Uncommon Ground Sculpture Park in Edmond.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so excited to scope that place out.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Google Uncommon Ground Sculpture Park in Edmond if you have not seen this place yet.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: The renderings are awesome.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, to the show.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: You want to know how hot it is right now?
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: The Oklahoman featured yesterday, yes,
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: their feature story in the physical paper and on the website was a breakdown
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: of how high school football programs around
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: the state are adjusting their practice schedules to accommodate extreme heat.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: Oklahoma,
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: when you distill it down to its true identity,
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's all weather and sports, let's be honest.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: The Oklahoman gets it.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: The scorching heat can take our crops,
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: our water supply,
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: the green grass out of my lawn,
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: but we will not let it take our high school football players' chance to play
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: under Friday Night Lights.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: If you're wondering, if I read that article, I did.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I can't say.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: It didn't get me a little bit nostalgic.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: Just thinking back to two a days, fearing a heat stroke might take my life this time of year.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: But as I read it, I actually learned something pretty interesting that blew my mind.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Every school that participates in high school sports in Oklahoma is mandated to have
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: a device called a wet bulb on the roof of a premises near the practice field.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: This bulb measures temperature, humidity, wind speed, sun angle, cloud cover.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: If some combinations of those factors are deemed unsafe, teams cannot practice.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: Only in Oklahoma, I swear.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: But you gotta admit, it's pretty cool.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Pretty cool.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's a twist or shit.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: In high school football.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: I want to see the movie.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: And since it is currently hotter than blazes,
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: hot enough to fry an egg on your forehead,
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: and hotter than all things holy,
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: all euphemisms my grandma would have said right about now in this weather,
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: it got me thinking about times a day in Oklahoma and which time of day in Oklahoma,
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: particularly during summer, is the best time of day.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Because times a day are not created equal, especially under a prairie sun in August 1st.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: On the Plains.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: This is a meritocracy.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta earn your esteem.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: So, I ranked nine times a day, dawn through the dead of night, by enjoyment.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Well, because I've lived in three different places.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: California, North Carolina, and Oklahoma.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Oklahoma for 30 years of my life.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: And each place has its best time of the day.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: And that best time of the day has been different in each place that I've lived.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: And Oklahoma, in my mind, has a definitive best time of the day.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: This goes without question.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll be curious if you agree.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, I'm not even curious if you agree or not because it's not going to change my mind.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm dead set on this.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll see if you agree.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I did this because if we're going to survive these dog days ahead,
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know how many 100-degree days we have left in store for us.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: And more importantly,
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: if our high school football players are going to survive the dog days ahead,
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: We need to get our enjoyment in while the getting's good and then get out when
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: the heat index passes 98.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's start with the worst time of day and then finish with the glorious.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Again, I ranked nine of these different times of the day.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: Number nine, early afternoon.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: I'm thinking like 1 p.m.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: to 3 p.m.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: By this point,
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Morning has been incinerated and dusk is in an absolute mirage in the distance.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: And here's an ongoing log of my thoughts during this time of day.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: How hot does it have to be for my roof to catch fire spontaneously?
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: If I watered my plants today, this morning, why are they dying now?
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: Does OG&E offer a payment plan?
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: This is also right when my aunt would pull the plug on our trips
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: to Whitewater Bay whenever I was a kid.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: And this I never understood.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: There was so much daylight left to tear my back to shreds on the Acapulco cliff dive.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: Why did we have to go home?
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: But when we'd get back home, I'd be asked to lay down for a nap and protest.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: And on principle, I would lay down.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: Her authority deserved respect.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: But I would never close my eyes.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: Ha!
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Today, I understand her logic and I respect it because napping is
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: the only thing worth doing between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. in Oklahoma.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: So just close your eyes and pray that you have dreams of October.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: Number eight, high noon.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes, in an effort to supercharge my afternoon's productivity, I like to run at lunch.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: I guess that's not entirely true.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: I really run at lunch because I'm not disciplined enough to go run in the mornings.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: And my penance for that is running at a heat index of 98 degrees.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: And what's surprising is how many other runners I see out on the road,
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: which the road at this point feels a little more like a convection oven.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: But when we pass each other,
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: we give each other this like knowing and shameful nod that says like,
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: we really should not be here right now.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's reckless.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's irresponsible.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: But we are here.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: And thank you for being here.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: Because if you were not here, I would feel a lot more guilty for risking my life today.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: As cars drive fast,
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: I know the drivers are checking the temperature on the dash,
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: whispering to themselves, oh my God, that guy's going to have a heat stroke.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: I know the driver sees me having a heat stroke.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: My face is a literal radish.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: But I never make eye contact.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: I try to look strong.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: I really don't want to worry them.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not really worried about myself.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: I'm worried about the drivers worrying about me.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: And eventually,
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: I make it home where I can then perspire for the next 90 minutes through
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: an awkward Zoom meeting where I'm repeatedly wiping my face on camera.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: I repeatedly do this at noon.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: Again, noon sucks in the summer in Oklahoma, if you didn't catch that.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: It is not a fun time.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: I do this because I like this better than the alternative,
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: which is sitting in my office at noon and knowing I wasted my last chance for
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: the next eight hours to convince myself that it's reasonable to be outside.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: That's not to say I will not go outside later.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: I will.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: I definitely will.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: But when I go outside later, I will know it's completely unreasonable.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: Noon is a portentous time.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: Big decisions.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's a weighty time of day.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: Choose wisely.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: Number seven, late morning.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: Think like 930 to noon.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: If you're watching the video podcast right now and you're seeing
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: the perspiration dripping on my forehead,
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: it's because it is so hot that our AC is literally not able to cool
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: the upstairs right now.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's 103 degrees outside.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: Number seven, late morning.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: Being a morning person, all I want is for morning to last forever.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: But I live in Oklahoma City where afternoon eats morning for breakfast.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: Every day.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why late morning also kind of sucks here.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: You know it's still morning, but it kind of already feels like 2 p.m.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's so damn hot already.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: And you know it's in the back of your mind.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's only going to get steadily hotter over the next 10 hours.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: So unless you're someone who likes waking up at 6 a.m., forget enjoying your coffee outside.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: Don't expect to sleep in and enjoy your morning.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: So crank the AC to 68, find yourself a nice window, and pretend it looks like morning outside.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: Number six, late afternoon, 3.30 to 6 or so.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: I remember when I was 25, I was working in the Rocky Mountain National Park.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: That's where I learned how sunscreen worked.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: I had a supervisor,
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: a guy who hiked all the time, and he was telling us to wear SPF 30 sunscreen.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: This was his recommendation.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: Until this time,
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: I did not understand that the number in
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: the SPF was how long it took your normal time to get sunburned.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: I always thought this was complete nonsense.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: A couple days ago, around 4ish, I rolled out our trash cans to the curb.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: I was under direct sunlight for no more than 15 seconds.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: Back inside, I looked at myself in the mirror.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: And it looked like I'd done Clint Eastwood's walk through the desert in the good,
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: the bad, and the ugly.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: I swear, I had a new sunspot after those 15 seconds on my temple.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: My bottom lip was taut.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: I had that fried feeling.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: So I did some quick SPF deduction in my mind based on my 15 seconds that it took
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: to get sunburned.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: And to stay outside for 15 minutes without getting a sunburn,
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: I would have to apply SPF 60 level protection at 4 in the afternoon.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: And that tracks, actually.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm very white.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: So that actually makes a lot of sense.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: Wear sunscreen.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: Late afternoon in Oklahoma.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's a way of showing you just how white you really are.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, we're at the turning point.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: The rest of the times of the day at least have some silver lining.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: All right, this is when things start to get better.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: Everything before was just horrible.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so we're into the good stuff.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: We've turned the corner.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: Number five, early evening, say like 6 o'clock to 8.30.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: To my eye, early evening is maybe the most pleasing time of the day in Oklahoma to look at.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: There's that auburn haze that floats through the trees and houses like pixie dust,
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: transforming mailboxes and trash cans to art.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: And all I'm saying is just be careful where you look whenever you're driving around
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: in the early evening.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: Because if you're in a neighborhood, you might find yourself living in that neighborhood.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: It will literally entrance you this time of day.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: Do your due diligence and drive back through that same neighborhood at noon.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: Just be careful.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: But no matter how beautiful this time of the day is,
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: because of the humidity in our air,
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: this section of the day contains the hottest temperature.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: And every day I ask myself, how is it possible that it is still this hot this late in the day?
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: How?
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: Last Friday, it was 102 degrees at 6 p.m.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: I thought about going running.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: I did go running and I almost died.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: So when people say that February and August in Oklahoma are pretty much
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: the same season because you can't leave your home, blame the early evening.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: But it's just so gorgeous.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: I have the back sweat.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's worth it.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: I will not stop going outside in the early evening, no matter how dangerous it is.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: Which brings us to number four, early morning, 6.30 to nine-ish.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: Oklahoma City,
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: if you're not disciplined,
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: We'll turn you into a vampire because it's officially hotter than shit by 8 o'clock.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: Still, I think morning is spectacular here,
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: especially during those rare cool fronts where the temperatures loiter in
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: the 70s like past 8 o'clock.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: Coffee is actually given a chance to steam on those days.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: My morning walks are actually refreshing and not a workout.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: But always, in the back of your mind, you know what's coming.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: The avalanche of heat is building with every notch the sun climbs on the horizon.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: This knowledge lives rent-free.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: Every day, in the back of your mind, you know the sun is coming.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: So, employ some healthy denial here.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: Don't let the heat run your morning.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: Savor every second of the shade, alright?
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: You will need it for everything that's going to come for the rest of the day.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: Number three, dawn.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: This is the only time of day where I believe one can safely drive their vehicle
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: without fear of back sweat.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: And this fact alone vaults Dawn into the top three.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: But Dawn will forever have its inconveniences and drawbacks,
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: mainly the whole having to get out of bed part to enjoy it.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: You know,
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: I live a five minute walk from one of the finest sunrise watching venues in
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: the city, Douglas Park.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's carved into a hillside.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: Faces east.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: So the sun cups up so close to you,
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: you could almost like scoop it right off the top of the Capitol,
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: stir it into your coffee.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: I hear you asking, like how many times have I watched the sunrise at Douglas Park?
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: That would be one time, 12 years ago.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: And it was one of the finest mornings of my life.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: I hear you asking me again, when will I be back?
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: I can't say.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's hard to know.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, we're getting to the good stuff now.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: This is the category of like pure ecstasy going into my veins time of the day in the summer.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, nighttime.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: We're talking dead of night here.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: Over the past few weeks,
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: I've been walking around the backyard in the wee hours with my two-month-old son
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: and looking up at trees.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: He can't sleep, so we talked through the right TPing technique.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: How many sheets he should unroll before chucking it, which toilet paper to buy.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: Not the cheapest because it'll tear on contact with the branches,
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: but also not the most expensive because it's not going to unroll smoothly
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: as it's flying through the air.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: Ha ha ha.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly how far up the tree to aim,
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: where to hide when a car pulls down the block,
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: who to recruit as your getaway driver, all that stuff.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: Don't worry.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: He's going to be ready.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: When the time comes, my son will be ready to do some T-Ping, some epic T-Ping.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: And summer nights.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: That warmth, it just wraps around you, like amniotically.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I just remember that feeling of like being out late, teeping.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: And it was like those nights were just never going to end.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: There's a feeling of the infinite at nighttime.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like time has unwound itself.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: Minutes become hours.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I actually think it's the crickets that do this,
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: playing their little wings like violins,
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: ripping open time so that we can dive in there.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's how I justify how loud they are outside my window every night.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: Speaking of diving, after the sun's gone down recently, all I can think about is the pool.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: We don't have a pool, but if it's dark, I want a pool.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: Because if we were ranking the best times a day to swim in Oklahoma, nighttime wins.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: Every time.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: Because when the temperature of the water exceeds the temperature of the air,
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: that feeling is, again, it's like amniotic.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's just perfect.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: We need a pool.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: We need some subscribers so we can build a pool in our backyard.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, left alone past 10 p.m., I can sit outside for hours.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: The mind just like stills.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: The body relaxes.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: Night in Oklahoma.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: Freeze.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, we got late evening.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: I know you knew this was coming too.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: I know this is your number one.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: This is your reward for surviving a day of Oklahoma heat.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: Every night you get the sky.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's sand in a jar, like dusted layers of pink, purple, and blue.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's a canyon, like striped clouds of purple.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's just the truest blue I've ever seen in my entire life.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: And late evening, it is whole and it is enough.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: In the majesty of our prairie sky, you can release, dream, be.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to fear the heat, at least for like another 12 hours.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: There's peace, there's excitement.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: You have earned a respite, and that respite is the best summer night anywhere on earth.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: Please find me another place that has summer nights as good as Oklahoma.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: Note about how our nights look.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: If you have not yet seen the color palette for our new soccer team,
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: OKC United, you know, they're building that new stadium down by the river.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: Check it out.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: I will link the Instagram post where they show the jersey colors and the flag colors.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'll link it in the bio.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: It is perfectly representative of late evening in Oklahoma.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's beautiful.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: Makes me want to cry when I say it.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's the best.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's it.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: Got through the rankings.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: Rankings that you didn't know.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you still don't know that you really needed those rankings, but I did.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: And by the time I got done with these rankings, I thought I'd be itching for fall.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the heat's been getting to me.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: But I will say this.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: I am not ready for fall.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: I am ready to ignore the heat warnings and soak up every second
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: of whatever heat gets radiated into me,
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: dreaming of pools, and knowing what awaits me on the other side of that heat.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: A trip to Brahms.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: So see you guys there at 9?
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: Next week,
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: we have a special interview with someone I know and respect and find to be one of
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: the funniest people alive.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: The great Oklahoma Cityan LV Ellis of Hamilton Acclaim.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: Their national tour is stopping through OKC for the first half of August
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: and we were glad he decided to come on the show.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: We're also going to be releasing a breakdown of the best restaurants and things
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: to do in Oklahoma City.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: That you can no longer do in Oklahoma City anymore,
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: you know, because those places and things don't exist.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: So if you miss an old Oklahoma City institution,
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: you want us to include it in our rankings,
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: fire us an email at drylineokc at gmail.com.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: That goes with any tips.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: Anything you want to tell us, send us an email.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: This is 26, 2026.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: If you enjoyed this podcast, you know what to do.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: Drop us a review.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: Like the clips of my face moving around on TikTok and Instagram and Facebook.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: Share the word.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: Subscribe to The Dry Line Substack where you will never miss our writing
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: about Oklahoma City's culture.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: Until the next time, you'll know where to find us.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: At the powerhouse.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: Oklahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plains.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: Oh God.