5.30.2006

to chill or not to chill.

i thought a lot about air conditioning this weekend. with most days well into the 90s and the humidity at high levels, one is apt to think about air conditioning.

especially if you don't have any.

i have none. thus, i thought about it.

in my car, i have no air. on really hot days, even with all the windows rolled down, the back of your shirt will showcase two colors... the wet color and the dry color. and for some reason, my car seems to be a bit of a vaccuum for heat. so i try not to go anywhere that would require me to roll up my windows while parking my car in the sun. often, when traveling with guests, they insist upon trying the air, certain it will be cooler. no amount of talking will convince them that it won't work. so, you turn on the air, roll up the windows and sit in a blissful state of knowing you were right while they sit amidst their pride. and you hope they buck up and admit they were wrong before you suffocate.

in my house, i have no air. i do have trees on either side of my house, so most of the day, the sun doesn't shine directly into my house. this helps. i don't have a fan, but i do have screens that let surprising amounts of breeze in. but on a weekend like the one we just had, it is not cool in my home. i'll admit, this weekend, as i was holed up in my house working on projects, i took a lot of lathargic breaks with a remote in my hand and a creamsicle in the other. i know that consuming vast amounts of sugar is not a good idea when you want to cool down, but you'll be happy to know that i accidentally bought sugar free creamsicles. they are really not that great.

i thought this weekend about air conditioning. maybe i should get one for the house. but i like looking out my windows more than i like to be cool. maybe i should get the air fixed in the car. but it's so old. is it worth it?

and then i realize, this is the same attitude that people take about winter, why they don't play outside, why they're holed up in their houses complaining about the weather that is just a part of minnesota life. and it's the same reason why i will go to no great lengths to air condition my life. i like the bitter cold. because it makes the summer so much sweeter. and it makes me tougher. and the sticky, disgusting humid heat makes me tougher. i don't know why i like to be tougher. having three brothers might have something to do with it. wanting to spend time outside may also.

so, this my friends, is what i have concluded: knowing that i have lived my entire life without air conditioning makes me realize that i can live this summer without it. i'll stock up on the lemonade, seek out the shade and slowly acclimate myself to the temperatures just in time for winter to start again. and that's the end of the story.

posted by julie @ 4:10 PM

3 Comments:

At 5/30/2006 5:38 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

It'll hit 110 here this weekend.
This decision is much easier in Arizona.

 
At 5/30/2006 10:01 PM, Blogger kimberly said...

as well as in ks. I forgot how hot it got here until I lived here in the summer again last year. how hot? freaking hot. Although I would take the sweltering heat over bitter cold any day. we didn't have a lot of middle ground this year...just went from one extreme to another.

 
At 6/06/2006 9:30 PM, Blogger Jaime G said...

Airconditioning is like sex, once you start... you can't go back!!! Don't do it, Julie! Don't do it!! (This is from someone who has airconditioning... but it IS only window airconditioners.)

 

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