The process went something like this: open windows and fans in the relative cool of the night brought interior temperatures down to a manageable comfort level. As soon as the sun dared show its ugly mug and start to heat up the house, we'd all be ordered to run around and close the windows and the curtains, and most of the day we would spend in the comfortable darkness of our downstairs family room. After reluctantly running the air conditioner for a few of the hottest afternoon hours, my mom would begin her vigil of periodically opening the front door to determine when the outside air was more pleasant than the inside air. Evidently, once this occurred there was literally no time to waste, which we gathered when my mom's frantic, "Open the house! OPEN THE HOUSE!!" would ring through the air. We kids knew better than to delay our response to the call, so we'd scurry through the house again, this time opening the windows to allow the evening breezes (and a blessed taste of late-day sunshine) inside.
We still tease my mom for her comfort-keeping, cost-cutting obsession with temperature, but I must confess that my apple hasn't fallen far at all from her tree. At present, we live in a city with very mild summers, meaning that relatively few people have air conditioning. Night air is typically quite cool, so this works out fairly well.
Except for when it doesn't.
We are currently in one of those "doesn't" times. The average high temperature in July here is a mere 83 degrees, which sounds so spectacular right now I can scarcely bring myself to think about it. We are currently ending our second week of highs in the mid-nineties, and the forecast shows much of the same for the week ahead, including two days where the forecast high is 98. Ninety-eight degrees and no air conditioning. Perish the thought.
But it's probably not the thought that will perish, but rather just me and my poor sweaty family. We are shoulder season kind of people, and strongly prefer to neither sweat nor shiver too much. There must be a lesson to be learned here (I'll let you know when I discover it). In the meantime, I'll just keep doing my best to make Jonathan and Clara's memories of their childhood summers as dark as my own (though I do try to let them out of the house occasionally, as did my own dear mother). And as soon as the temperature cools down, I'll definitely open the house.
6 comments:
Maybe instead of thinking of 98 degrees as a temperature, you can remember 98 Degrees as a popular boy band of the late 1990's/early 2000's. In fact, in times like these, perhaps I'll make you a themed mix-tape to brighten your spirits.
Also, again, cute babies.
Such good memories. Interestingly enough I've seen the thermometer in the Explorer get up to 120 degrees this week. It normally settles around 114-117 though, and we have air conditioning.
Your post reminds me of when my family lived in cinderblock apartments in Colorado. The summer Gwen was born there were 62 days in a row in the 90's and our apartment thermostat stayed as high as it could go all the time. We went to Aaron's parents house the day we got out of the hospital with Gwen because it was so hot we were afraid she would be hurt. It sure makes me grateful for air conditioning now and we still act like your mom for a month or two each summer.
I guess it wouldn't be nice then to tell you that I am enjoying the nice cool AC on this 98 degree day. Okay forget I said that! That really stinks, I hate being hot. Although we resisted the AC for many weeks trying to keep our own bill down. The joys of adulthood!
It was the same way in our house growing up. It must be a family thing with our mom's being sisters and all. My mom was a NAZI about that kind of stuff. I do find myself following in her footsteps. I have to say I have learned to love the feeling of walking into a dark cold house after being in the scorching heat outside.
I read this post in the darkness of my family room with fans running, windows shut, wet spots under my arms and little beads of sweat on my upper lip. We've resisted installing our window units this summer, but I might just cave in this month. In the meant time, I think I'd better turn this dang computer off. It's heating up the house.
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