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Courtesy of Texas Discovery Gardens

At the rate the climate is changing, it may be that one day people in Dallas will walk out their front doors into a tropical rainforest filled with glimmering, colorful butterflies and moths in their native habitat. But why wait five years? The two-story Rosine Smith Sammons Butterfly House and Insectarium at Texas Discovery Gardens offers a climate-controlled environment chock full of dozens of species of moths and butterflies, tropical plants and a special emergence chamber where the lucky can see butterflies emerge from their cocoon. The chance to see a glowing emerald work of magic like the African moon moth or an aptly named piano key postman butterfly with the key-like markings on its wings is well worth the modest price of admission ($12 for adults, $6 for kids and $10 for seniors). So, go appreciate these exotic beauties now, before the environment changes and you find yourself chasing them away from your tomato plants in the near future.

If we were being honest, the correct answer right now would be "indoors on a treadmill in a meat locker at night," but those are hard to come by. Besides, the serious runners of Dallas are a devoted enough bunch that they aren't going to let a little thing like imminent death from Satan's blast furnace stop them from gearing up for a jog outdoors. They want a view, too, and the 4.6-mile Trinity Skyline Trail has one of the best views of downtown. There's not a ton of shade, but the trail runs alongside both sides of the river and offers access to Trammell Crow Park, Continental Avenue Bridge and West Dallas Gateway and the Trinity Overlook. Dallas' trail system is ever-expanding and plans are to connect to the Trinity Strand Trail, which itself will eventually link a network of 73 miles of trails.

What does one want from a recreational softball league? Well, access to beer is always a plus. Not having to play with any douchebag who thinks it proper to yell at an umpire at a freakin' softball game is also desirable. Generally, the goal is fun, friendliness and good sportsmanship without too much stress. That being the case, it's hard to top a league whose mission statement says the league is "dedicated to the promotion of quality amateur softball of all levels of play for persons of any race, creed, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation or national origin, without prejudice." The league emphasizes drawing players from the LGBTQ+ community, but welcomes everybody with a firm rule against mean, intolerant people. Teams are organized by skill level and include drafts of free agents to bring new faces to the teams. Everyone is expected to field and bat, and the fee for a season of 10–12 games — mostly held at McInnish Sports Complex in Carrollton — is just $70 per player. The end of August was the deadline to sign up for the upcoming fall season, but the league offers a spring season, tournament play and events throughout the year, including fundraisers to help send local teams to the Gay Softball World Series.

Golfers have golf shops. Ditto for tennis players, cyclists and runners. Gun fans have stores catering to their needs on every other block in Texas. But sometimes bigger is just better, and sporting goods stores don't get much bigger than Cabela's. Inside the walls of these massive stores is a one-stop wonderland for all your outdoor sporting needs. You can buy the state license to shoot or hook the animal of your choice, plus acquire the gun and ammo, rod and reel, blind or boat and whatever other gear needed to clean and cook your catch along with a nice tent and sleeping bag to relax after your grand day outdoors. If team sports with balls are more your thing, you have plenty of options. But if you're ready to get back into the great outdoors now that the blast furnace of summer is finally loosening its grip, Cabela's has the clothing, power tools and countless other accessories perfect for when you're ready to venture away from your A.C.

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