1. Everything is suddenly covered in bright-green pine pollen.

2. It's February 17 but it's 80 degrees and the ice-cream trucks are out in force.

3. You have friends coming from out of state and, when they ask you what the weather's like, you tell them it will be somewhere between 30 and 90, could be dry, could be downpours, could be windy, could be humid . . . and, by the way, welcome to southeast Texas.