Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts
By Alyce Wilson
Summer is here at last. I know this because I had to keep my air conditioner on last night while I slept.
It's a beautiful day, and it looks like it's going to be a nice weekend. The weather gods are slipping.
My dog, Una, is now shedding so fast that an entire dog comes off her every two days.
The mornings were fine, but it got steamy by afternoon and unfortunately, since I work at home, there was no escape. I began to feel guilty about all those days I'd left Una there all day long, steaming, while I'd worked in an air conditioned office.
Finally, near the end of the summer I had both money and enough luck to find an air conditioner on the shelves. The one I bought isn't big enough to cool the entire apartment, but it keeps my work space cool. And after all, that's where I spend a good deal of my time.
Near the end of last summer, I had to sleep in the front room on a futon with the air conditioning running.
My parents were never big fans of air conditioners and I still can't stand going into a public space where it's so cold I need a sweater. This is why, during the summer, I carry an extra long-sleeved shirt.
We had an air conditioner in the family room at my house, growing up. But the downstairs was constructed as a series of interlocking open areas, and it wasn't terribly efficient. I'm sure energy bills were one reason we were discouraged from using it. Sometimes, we'd turn the air conditioner on when we got home from school, cool down and then turn it off before my parents got home from work.
More often than not, we just enjoyed the breeze on the front porch. And of course, all of our bedrooms had fans in the windows. I spent countless happy hours on summer evenings, relaxing in front of my fan, writing and listening to music while my cat, Ginger, pressed her ear against the radio.
In college, I very seldom lived in an apartment that had air conditioning. Either that or I'd live with some hippie who insisted on not using it. So during the summer, I used to find cool places to escape the heat, such as a book store or a movie theater. Or even, if I was desperate, the mall.
It's funny; after everyone has complained for so long about the cool temperatures and the rain, on the news last night they were promising only one more day of heat before "the thunderstorms come along and cool things down for us." Talk about a short memory.
But I'm certainly not complaining. I've been waiting for this sort of heat to come along, wrap its hot arms around the city and make us feel alive.
Moral:
The heat has clearly gone to my head.
Copyright
2003 by Alyce Wilson
What
do you think? Share your thoughts
at Alyce's message board (left button):
