It's hot and humid outdoors. I haven't even been going out there except to go to church twice a week and to see the chiropractor once a week. Bah! Humbug to hot weather. I always say you can get warm if you're cold, but you can't always get cool if you're too hot!
I guess we've gotten so accustomed to having air conditioning that it's almost heart-stopping if the AC goes out for any time at all! I remember when Hurricane Irene came through and we lost power for four days! It was so hot and miserable. Luckily at that time we had a swimming pool and kept using it until it started getting too yucky (because the pumps were not running due to no electricity). Danny and the fur babies spent most of the time just laying on the floor where it was cooler.
All of that is artificial though, when it comes right down to it. There's really nothing better than the real deal...
I'm glad it's almost Fall. I can't wait for the cooler air to show up and for the trees to start changing colors. When the leaves fall I think of them as Autumn snowflakes. Makes me cooler just to think about it.
I love that we have several outdoor rooms now since our trees have grown up so much. By that I mean that our weeping cherry tree and a few other low-hanging canopies have created a sense of being enclosed and it's pretty awesome when sitting under those trees. The air is so much cooler than the rest of the yard and the gentle breezes seem that much sweeter too. Natural air conditioning! I find a lot of peace surrounded by nature at her best. We have a hammock in one area and swaying back and forth while looking up towards the sky is beyond awe-inspiring.
I grew up without air conditioning until I was in my teens. I lived in a big old farmhouse and my bedroom was on the upper floor with four big windows in it. In summer I'd enjoy beautiful breezes filtering in and fluttering the cotton curtains. The air was perfumed with honeysuckle and Ligustrum blossoms. I could hear the honeybees buzzing around the flowers and the birds singing from the top of the huge oak outside. The windows were open on Summer nights and I could hear the mosquitoes buzzing, trying to get in, and the frogs singing for rain. Sometimes there would be a Mourning Dove cooing or an Owl making itself known. I remember jumping out of bed to quickly close those windows when a storm would come, closing them before too much rain came inside and got the curtains and wooden floors wet.
I remember the feel of it, of what the coolness felt like.
I am grateful for my air conditioning these days. I like using a fan with it too, because it makes the air swirl around like a good summer breeze.
