Air-conditioning and electricity!
All the Southeastern Seaboard has had bad weather - hot and humid - except us. It seems early to contend with that. I will really knock on wood! It's cool and terrific here.
Paul has both doors open with the screen doors across and we have beautiful cross-ventilation. Florida - was surprised last week with lots of rains, high winds; and the Southern States had such an awful wind/rain storm that they ended up without electricity and 100+ heat. We've heard from friends and family, and they're all okay. Good. The news said that the damage was as bad as a hurricane, but the difference was - there wasn't any warning.
The TV news this morning interviewed people without electricity (and thus a/c ing) who said they slept in their much cooler basements.
That brought back memories - Hey - When I was a teenager, my parents worked, I used to spend whole days in our finished basement, watching tv, during heat waves on L.I. (I was a couch potato) We didn't have a/c. except for one - in my parents' bedroom. Once I remember we ate dinner in there. But I think it was too much of a bother to carry all the food upstairs, set up the bridge table so we didn't do that again.
They offered me the chance to sleep in their bedroom with them, but I never did because my dad put a big standing fan, trained out to draw out the hot air, in one of my bedroom two windows. That way the cooler (?) breeze from the other window and would gently blow on me. I never minded sleeping with the fan.
My folks worked in Mineola, the Nassau County Seat without a/c.. Almost everybody, everywhere, didn't have air. . When it got too hot, they just closed the courts and everyone went home. Cars didn't have a/c. You'd open the side vent windows for a cool breeze while driving.
One place to keep cool/cold was the movies. You'd have to bring a sweater because they'd keep it so cold, and after the movie was done and when you came back outside, your skin would keep you cool for about a minute. But - I think sometimes it feels worse if you're in a/c ing instead of just adjusting to the heat. When Long Island got hot, it didn't cool down at night very often. We'd sit outside on lawn chairs with a cool drink and chat with the neighbors.
Back to now: The TV crew interviewed one stupid lady. She had her refrigerator door opened wide to show the tv crew all her spoiled food - chickens, other items. Well - lady - if you'd kept the door closed, perhaps they could have lasted longer.
Both our homes now are fully a/c'd. Would I like to go back to no a/c? No sirree. How spoiled I've gotten. This is just fine with me. But - I still wish for, and it would be nice, if we had an electric generator for the infrequent times the power goes out. Since its infrequent, we seldom think about it. It would be nice for a/c and my CPAP machine. Maybe next Christmas.
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