I logged on to the Interwebs this morning to see <a href="http://irritatedtulsan.wordpress.com/2009/05/26/mfo-2/">Irritated Tulsan's feature of the QuikTrip 49-cent fountain drink</a>. What a lovely way to start the morning - a towering cup of frosty, sweaty, perfectly sweet Dr Pepper.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://irritatedtulsan.wordpress.com/2009/05/26/mfo-2/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 425px; height: 567px;" src="http://irritatedtulsan.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/491.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Boy howdy. Those QT folks just know how to pour 'em. And Irritated Tulsan knows how to shoot a drink to make my eyes and my ears and my <span style="font-style: italic;">very pores</span> salivate.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.kbez.com/jockbios/carly.aspx">Carly Rush (of 92.9 KBEZ fame)</a> saw Irritated Tulsan's post, too, and commented that when she saw on her drive to work this morning that QT's 49-cent drink billboards are up, she knew that summer must be upon us.<br /><br />It's true. Though summer doesn't get its official start until late next month, we Tulsans start reaping the benefits of 9 o'clock sunsets, 92 percent humidity and scorching temperatures a good 30 days beforehand. When the ads for the SofPools come out, most of us have been swimming for a month already. When the sun is shining and the days are hot, we don't waste any time here in T-Town.<br /><br />Not that we don't have until mid-October to wear shorts and bathing suit tops while we mow the grass, but still, when time's a wastin', we don't mess around. And not that we wear bathing suit tops while we mow (cough, cough - no, not at all). I'm just trying to make a point here.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tZVufRlMtzM/Shv4q2rT4yI/AAAAAAAABRI/1b_NS5ybWYM/s1600-h/DSC04862-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tZVufRlMtzM/Shv4q2rT4yI/AAAAAAAABRI/1b_NS5ybWYM/s400/DSC04862-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340135198293222178" border="0" /></a>I used to have a bearded dragon lizard that, once summer came, loved to eat these flowers. Well, not these. <a href="http://www.uticasquare.com/">These are at Utica Square</a>. I bet my mom asked three dozen times that summer if I knew what had happened to her hibiscus. How am I supposed to know? I'd ask her. I'm not your garden boy.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b9/Bearded_Dragon_showing_beard.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 385px; height: 288px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b9/Bearded_Dragon_showing_beard.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I was a somewhat unruly teenager. Sorry, Mom.<br /><br />My favorite things to do during summer in Tulsa? Watch the <a href="http://tulsa.drillers.milb.com/schedule/index.jsp?sid=t260&amp;m=06&amp;y=2009">fireworks at a Friday night Tulsa Drillers Game</a> (and get my beer on at Thirsty Thursdays, when beer and soft drinks are just $1). Eat every meal on the patio, even breakfast and especially coffee. Hang out at the farmers' markets. Stroll along Cherry Street or at <a href="http://www.riverparks.org/">River Parks, stopping to climb on the animal sculptures and to watch the flow of the Arkansas</a>. This year I'm going to <a href="http://tulsalibrary.org/eventguide/events/SRP_ch_prize-poster_09_sm.pdf">read books with my kid for the summer reading program at Tulsa City-County Library</a>.<br /><br />What do you like doing during summer in Tulsa? What tells you summer is here? I'd love to hear about what you all get up to during the long days ahead.