Talk me down off the ledge please
Oh, not really. I am not out on a damn ledge at all. I’m standing in the hot and swampy Landfill Chitchen here with a cold (or at least it was once cold) wet washcloth draped around my neck, listening to the birds and insects out there in the Great Outdoors and trying to get a stir-fry off the ground.
Why don’t I have the a/c on? A few reasons, actually. First of all, I have a love/hate relationship with central air. I work in an air-conditioned building (of course, what cube farm worker doesn’t?). I appreciate the cool air there. I think it makes me more productive. I also miss being close to the outdoors, even though my building is in a beautiful setting with ponds and wildlife and I can go outside whenever I want. At home, I really really really want to have my windows and doors open so I can hear the birds and insects and whatever outside.
Also, it isn’t really THAT HOT!!! Fer kee-reist! It’s in the upper 80s. When it gets to be 90-something with high humidity, I may well change my mind. But really. The upper 80s? When I was a kid in the yooperland, I always felt like celebrating when the bank temperature sign said something like 84! That didn’t happen very often.
Aside from that, I worry that we (the human race) are losing our ability to deal with what I think are normal temperatures. Whether or not we are experiencing man-made climate change (or any climate change) is a question for scientists to answer and I am not going to veer off into my own opinions about it. I’m just wondering why we are having weather alerts for temperatures in the mid to upper 80s. I would like it to be a bit cooler right now but I am coping. Heck, I even trucked over to the Plum Market after work. At my regular full-tilt boogie speed. IT’S 86! IT’S NOT THAT HOT!
Occasionally we have a summer down here where the temperatures actually do linger between the upper 80s and lower 100s for daaaayyyyyys. With no rain! I don’t like those summers but they are few and far between (1988 and 2012). We didn’t have central a/c in 1988 but we did in 2012. We actually didn’t use it. It was a “dry heat”. This is a normal summer. Actually, it’s been a cooler summer than most. We are in a bit of a hot spell right now. I’m enjoying it. I know what winter will [most likely] be like.
I am all for central a/c. I just wish that people would learn to use it sparingly (in their homes at least) and try to learn to enjoy the dog days of summer a bit more. It’s not all that bad, at least here in the Great Lake State. If you have a back yard (like I do), sit out there and listen.
July 16th, 2013 at 8:16 pm
Very sultry here with 94+ degrees. It is funny that you mention listening as I was sitting in the shade today doing just that. So many sounds to absorb. The lone loon was quite vocal early this morning. The beach is very quiet compared to other years. Makes me think of so many of the Generation 2 souls. Miss the music that they made with their lives.
July 16th, 2013 at 8:42 pm
I agree! Of course, I can afford to because our hottest temps are generally 70s and 80s. High 80s to low 90s is pretty hot here with no central a/c but it cools down a lot at night, so you have to be crafty about where the sun hits in the AM versus PM and be willing to close off the house during the day to keep it cooler. I do have a portable AC unit and although it’s probably mid 80s here now(and HUMID), I don’t have it on. I will go out on the shady deck and read!
July 16th, 2013 at 8:53 pm
When it gets into the 90s at the Moominbeach (or even upper 80s), I put my bathing suit on and walk out past the second sandbar until it’s up to my neck. Gitchee Gumee is the best air conditioner on earth. 🙂
July 17th, 2013 at 8:54 am
I turned my AC on at 8:00 last night. ;-(
July 18th, 2013 at 4:55 am
Our upstairs AC (may have) died last night while it was rainy and dark; fortunately, the rain means the temps came down. We’ll see how expensive today becomes….