Sunday, July 30

Sensations of the Night

I’ve been in the South for two long, stuck in the world of central air. Not that I don’t love and truly appreciate my air conditioning. However, I had forgotten how nice it is sleep with all the windows open, with just a bit of a cool breeze coming in, stirring the humid air and tickling my body. And I had forgotten about all the sounds and the smells of morning: the sweet smell of the air, the gradual increase in the noise being made by the birds, the chatter of a couple joggers going by, the buzz of the modern world as it begins the new day.

With the house closed up all the time you miss these things. You get use to the sameness of things. I long ago lost the argument with my husband about keeping the house open for all but the hottest part of the day. I've gotten him to the point where he will except having the thermostat set 78 instead of 72, but the dramatics that go on if I try to open a window have beaten me down. The funny thing is that the very sensations that I relish are exactly why my husband cannot stand having the house open and I’m sure he will complain bitterly about them once he wakes.

However, last night he didn’t have a choice. The air condition in our house gave out, so we had to open things up to keep to let things cool down properly. Today, we will pack it off to Mimi’s house to keep ourselves and our little one comfortable for the real heat of the day and hope that the AC is working again quickly, but for now, I’m enjoying listening to the birds twitter outside my window and remember summers from long ago when I slept on the back porch all summer long.

5 comments:

Deb @ Sugarfused said...

Lora, you're much more of a summer person than me that's for sure ;~)
I love the sounds of summer, but the humid nights not so much.

So glad to read that you're doing so well and enjoying that sweet little boy. Congrats on your weight loss!

Sue said...

We run our a/c at 28C, which is 82F! We find when it's hot and humid outside, it feels lovely and cool. We have an a/c unit in each room, so we only run the ones in rooms we're using, and only in the hottest part of the day as well as in bedrooms overnight to de-humidify. I love getting up at about 6am, throwing open windows and doors, and letting in the lovely cool breezes. My husband likes the heat anyway so although he never remembers to open windows, he usually wouldn't remember to switch on an a/c unit either!

Bearette said...

i actually don't mind extreme heat as much as extreme cold...maybe it's because (as my mom reminded me in an email today) it was 105 the day i was born, and the hospital had no a/c. Aah!

Anvilcloud said...

We northerners are deeply into the AC too these days, but most nights have still gotten down to comfy temps and, hence, open windows.

Mike said...

Well, growing up where we did, you had to have the windows open since there was no ac. I miss the cold (and I mean cold) air coming in my window at our house in the Adirondacks when I was a kid, hearing the deer and bears, and the wind in the leaves. About the only man made sounds were an occasional fighter plane from Plattsburgh, a motorboat if someone had stayed out late and was heading home, and a train once in awhile. Ahh, now I look forward to hearing the sprinklers turning on a little after midnight.