Homage to AC

10:08 AM Elizabeth Seckman 20 Comments

My third grade class. Our elementary school was new with a "modern" design and windows that didn't open, so the school was forced to eventually put in AC. All through Junior High and High School, we had no AC, but those windows did open. If you're curious...I'm in the 2nd row behind #12.

I must express my love and adoration for my air conditioner. I grew up in a house without AC and I remember how hard it was to stay cool when the temperatures rose, like they are now. Cold baths before bed. Baby powdered arms and legs in an effort to beat the sweat. Sometime in the 80s, my parents had ceiling fans installed in every room of the house. That was a red letter summer! Though I still spent a lot of time in front of a box fan. I'd lie on the floor, I suppose because heat rises making floor level the coolest zone, and practically hug the fan. No need to worry about the unnatural wind messing up my hair. West Virginia humidity gives me one choice of summer hair--fuzzy and wild.

Summer heat also made eating more interesting. No one wanted to add any extra heat to the house by cooking, so there was a lot of BBQ'ing and there was my parent's favorite, the cold soup--Gazpacho. I hated the stuff, though it was a summer, no-cooking-needed staple. I preferred tomato sandwiches. I still love tomato sandwiches. I have seven tomato plants currently growing. Mmmm. Grow babies, grow!

When it got really hot, my friends and I would sleep on someone's back porch. The heat must have made us impervious to mosquito bites. I don't recall bugs being a problem as we slept in the open air on top of sleeping bags with nothing but line-dried sheets for cover.

Ahh, the good old days. They make for a pleasant walk down memory lane, but I'm still giving my AC a hug and an at-a-girl for keeping my house comfy as I remember-when. Stay cool, my friends. If not in body, at least in spirit. 🌞

Is it obvious that I wasn't at all sure of what to write about? I need to make a list of post ideas so that when I sit down to write, I actually have something to write about. Though, as I sit here in my cool air that isn't dripping with humidity, I am definitely in love with my AC.

20 comments:

Alex J. CavanaughJune 20, 2024 at 1:42 PM
I don't recall a time our homes didn't have air conditioning, although I do remember times when it would go out.
No sleeping outside here - way too many bugs!
Natalie AguirreJune 20, 2024 at 3:39 PM
I remember not having air conditioning as a kid, in college, and when my husband and I were starting out together. Our first vacation when he lived in Texas, he made me sick by driving us on long trips in his truck that didn't have air conditioning. I'm grateful for the air conditioning in this hot weather.
AnonymousJune 20, 2024 at 7:42 PM
My mom and dad had a window unit in their bedroom. My mom would turn the fan off, even in deep summer, so as not to add to the electric bill. Sigh. As soon as she walked away, I'd turn it back on:)
You were and are a cutie.
Sandra sandracox.blogspot.com
Michelle WallaceJune 21, 2024 at 2:11 AM
We also grew up without AC - in a subtropical climate where humidity reigns supreme!
We experience mild winter days and steaming summer days.
Thankfully, I have an AC now. I'll never manage without it.
jabblogJune 21, 2024 at 7:04 AM
Air conditioning is essential, or, at the very least, fans!
Madeline Mora-SummonteJune 21, 2024 at 8:46 AM
When I was a kid, I knew it was summer when my Dad hauled out those old a/c window units and put them in. :)
Karen Jones GowenJune 21, 2024 at 2:03 PM
I grew up in Illinois with the heat and the humidity, no AC, not even TV until the late 1950s haha. Oh, the changes I have seen!
L. Diane WolfeJune 21, 2024 at 3:37 PM
We didn't have AC when I was growing up, but in Oregon, you didn't need it. However, imagine my surprise when I moved to Arkansas with a car that had no AC!
Patricia JLJune 24, 2024 at 12:59 PM
I grew up without AC, too, but in Upper Michigan, that was only a problem a couple months of the year. We just suffered through it. Hubby, on the other hand, grew up in Mississippi, so in his opinion, AC is a necessity--even in Upper Michigan.
Annalisa CrawfordJune 25, 2024 at 2:34 AM
Living in the UK, we don't often get temps hot enough to need air-con, but when we do we just implement the Great British Communal Moan. Although, I cheat and go to work in my air-conditioned gym and need to keep my fleece on!

Well done for fining something to write about. I tend to not post, which means my blog is currently looking like a ghost town.