Alright. It's really hot here!! I've been thinking of what to say about just how hot it is and I decided to tie in a couple of previous posts.
When I was a kid, in the 1960's we didn't have air conditioning of any kind for years. We had this humongous, heavy electric fan that my dad used to stand in the bathtub (no, not with water in it!) facing out the bathroom window to "circulate the air" to all the bedrooms. Theoretically, this was supposed to work. We were lucky to get a tiny, tiny breeze in our rooms. I remember some really uncomfortable days in that house during the summer! It was especially fun the summer my sister broke her wrist and I broke my collar bone, the same day, in totally unrelated incidents, by the way.
This was also before churches were air conditioned. Usually each spring or summer, some girl would usually pass out during Mass. In school, the teachers would not allow us to use our folded up spelling tests to fan ourselves, something we thought was the height of persecution.
Our car wasn't air conditioned either. My dad had to drive 3 or 4 hours to Ocean City at 70mph with the windows opened the whole way. But what was gas then...about 35 cents a gallon?
Anyway, I don't yet have an a/c unit in the room where I use my computer. So I sit here, reminiscing about the hot days of yesteryear and I'm very thankful for the air conditioning I do have.
Does anyone else remember growing up without a/c?
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I remember each room in our apartment had an electric fan. I have good memories of them because they really circulated fresh air at home.
ReplyDeleteDuring Sunday masses, my mom would snap open her spanish fan and was really good in cooling us down with her brisk fanning motion! God bless her soul.
I didn't have A/C at all until about 3 years ago when Darrell and I got this house. It didn't have AC when we moved in, but the furnace was bad so we just had a heat pump put in. It's been the greatest thing. I don't want to have to go back to life without it.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother had a spanish fan! Many good memories! She was a very Victorian type lady. Living as I do, in Gettysburg, we have access to many stores that have such fans.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up we had fans (which we rarely used). Then we had this box unit (wasn't a/c -- most likely it's predecessor). We would have to fill a compartment with water from the tap, it would chill the water and put out cool air. It did go in the window.
ReplyDeleteMy first experience with a/c was with my second roommate. Somehow she had grown up with it?! I remember trying to convince her not to use it so we could save money. But once the habit started .... It would be difficult to live without it. Also, MY first few cars didn't have a/c either.
Keep drinking lots of water and iced green tea!
Thanks, Hyper! I need to get some decaf green tea so I can drink it with abandon! Right now I do alot of nicely flavored herbal ones: Lemon Zinger, Peppermint, etc.
ReplyDeleteA great post. Makes me remember many hot, sweaty days. That was when I was a kid and would go outside because the house was actually warmer! Thanks for the memories.
ReplyDeleteHard for the younger generation to beleive, I think, but we really didn't get off of school because of the heat, either!
ReplyDeleteThank God for airconditioning! I lived in a home without airconditioning, and in Australia, thats BAD!! When I was house hunting to buy my first home, airconditioning was the first thing I looked for!
ReplyDeleteI was wondering what it was like in Australia w/o a/c. When it gets really bad here, I tell my husband that I'd like to go to Alaska for the Summer!
ReplyDeleteAlaska must be beautiful in the summer. I was thinking of making a trip to Alabama in August but seems like it's too hot there.
ReplyDeleteHeck, its too hot in Baltimore in August!
ReplyDelete