Looonnnnnng Hot Day of Summer

It is so hot today, the sky seems bleached of its blue.
The ground seems scorched under the white, hazy sky. The heat feels like a palpable force, pressing against you as soon as you step outside.
Driving to an assignment today, I listened to a quintessential Texan singer on what felt like a "Texan" day in Dubuque.
Lefty Frizzell first made his name as a roadhouse singer in Roswell, N.M., but his elongated phrasing on songs such as "How Long Will it Take (to Stop Loving You)" and "Travelin' Blues" seem as much a part of the blazing plains of West Texas as the silently pumping oil rigs.
Lefty provided a perfect soundtrack to today's hot day.