On air conditioning
I grew up without air conditioning. My mother's house still doesn't have it. The closest we got to "central air" was sometime in high school when my parents bought a window unit secondhand from a neighbor. They put it in their room and we just put up a shower curtain in the hallway. Mom quit using it after Dad passed; she worries about someone breaking in.
Our house now still doesn't have it. Thus I just spent 20 minutes on the couch listening to the wind in the trees, the quiet clatter of the street sign twisting, the dog barking in the yard. Those are the sounds I'm used to during the summer. I think the crickets are waiting for the wind to die down, but they're usually there too.
We have a couple of window units; we just haven't put them in yet. I don't feel the need. (The big one didn't go in at all the summer I was pregnant with Rachel.) Sure, those nights when neither the temperature nor the humidity are expected to be below 70, they're great. But those happen what, about a dozen times a year in Michigan? Yeah, that may happen more if the Goracle is right; I'm not really holding my breath, though.
So those of you who find crickets and tree-rustling a lullaby, and your alarm clock to be birdsong, I'm there with you.
I love summer.
5 Comments:
I was right there with you before our son developed asthma. We had one window unit until the day he was rushed to the ER with low oxygen levels. Now count us among those who rarely turn the air conditioning off between June and September. Allergies and Asthma...cruddy buggers. They get worse and worse until you can't ignore them any longer. Bye Bye crickets and bye bye indoor pets.
The things we do so our kids can breathe. LOL
Yeah, that whole "breathing" thing is hard to get away from, isn't it? :) That's why we have the window unit--for my husband.
I've said more than once, and truly believe it--if any of us kids had had asthma or allergies, we'd be dead.
I'm the one with the asthma here but I am the die-hard against turning on the air. My husband would have it on "North Pole" setting the second the mercury goes past 70....last year when my asthma flared and my doctor told me I had to stay indoors with the air on, I nearly lost my mind. I need those nature sounds!
(And tell your mom that if she's afraid of break-ins while her air is on, to put a baby monitor near the front door and have the receiver by her bed)
We have it, but try not to use it. In Missouri, we do have weeks in the summer where the nighttime temperature is in the upper 70s regularly. I grew up without air until 1989 (in Kansas, and we survived the summer of 1980 when the nighttime low was 90 or higher for a month or so) when we moved to North Carolina, and I do enjoy having the house open. We haven't turned on the air yet,thought I'll admit that's more to try to save money than for comfort. It has been hot, but thankfully the heat hasn't lasted past a day. I think this week might be the last one though. 90's are expected next week, and thought I might be comfortable, the baby doesn't like heat that much, even if she's just in a diaper.
We added air to the house a couple of years ago. It's on for my comfort, even though my Heather is the one with asthma (exercise-induced) and allergies (small furry animals, several foods, or, as I usually say, she's allergic to life).
Of course, it's set to 78, and we have the windows and doors open. I like the sounds of nature. We could probably turn it off so long as we can leave the ceiling fans on...I can't stand sitting in stagnant air.
But my main reason for wanting it on right now is for Lily. She's had enough breathing problems, she doesn't need any more.
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