Catching up
Hard to believe tomorrow is the first day of August. Ughhhhh. I once heard a saying that went "after the fourth, watch for the fall" and it really is true. Autumn is approaching at alarming speed. Not sure what I doing for my local meal this week. I was thinking a Dutchie type meal, perhaps Chicken Corn Soup, which is a serious summer food where I live. And something with peaches and blackberries again cause that bush just keeps on producing berries. I'll let you know. And I'll be sure to include the before and after shots. Maybe I will incorporate unflattering lighting and cheap dinnerware in the before shots, y'know, just for effect.
I believe air conditioning is ruining our society. Okay, not really, but I think it has made profound changes that many people don't realize. I've said before that we don't have AC in our home, nor do I have it in my car. Am I sometimes hot? Hell yes. But not so hot that I can't function. Apparently I am now freakishly acclimated to heat and humidity, enabling me to continue living my life, where others I know are relegated to being shut-ins when the weather is above 75 degrees. Saturday, I went out to dinner with my husbands family to Ruby Tuesdays (blech) and it was so cold in that restaurant, I seriously wished that I had a sweater or something. It was ridiculously cold...I was literally shivering. But everyone else was fine. Then we went to a local fair and walked around where all the families (there weren't that many due to the heat) literally looked like they could die at any second. People appeared to be melting. It wasn't even that hot....and it was evening. Too bad I'm not having kids, because mine would have been evolutionarily pre-disposed to succeed during a period of global warming. And I don't understand all the deaths from heat. How does that happen? Unless you are so accustomed to living in your air conditioned home, driving in your air conditioned car to your air conditioned office space and shopping and eating in malls and restaurants you could store meat in that you can no longer tolerate heat and humidity. If you have access to water and an open widow with a fan, how do you die? Sometimes I wish that I could live in the days before air conditioning. The days of sleeping porches and wide front porches crowded with wicker furniture and huge ceiling fans, and just the slower pace that summer took because of the heat. That's all gone now. I've read a few times that many old-time southerners credit air conditioning with the demise of many southern traditions as well as the 'pace' of the south in the summertime. Gone are the days of the Seersucker suit and the chilly libation on the front porch. All year round you can live, shop, drive, and work at a comfy 72 degrees.
And speaking of the South, only a short while until I am there for a much deserved and much anticipated TWO WEEK vacation on Hatteras Island! woohoo. The countdown has begun. And I won't share the countdown on here, cause I'm not entirely sure who all reads this blog and I don't really want to advertise when it is exactly that I'll be away. But I am super excited. I am resisting my desire to start making lists, cause it is a little too early for that. The only bad thing about the house we stay in is the damn AIR CONDITIONING. I tried to turn it off when we stayed there last year. What good is having a waterfront house when you can't hear or smell the water. But the screens had been removed in most of the windows for repair, so that didn't happen. I did find out that my dogs LOVE air conditioning, because they refused to come outside most of the time, unless they knew they were going in the water. Sit outside and lie on the deck while I read? No thanks, they said, we'll watch from inside. Girly-dogs.
I believe air conditioning is ruining our society. Okay, not really, but I think it has made profound changes that many people don't realize. I've said before that we don't have AC in our home, nor do I have it in my car. Am I sometimes hot? Hell yes. But not so hot that I can't function. Apparently I am now freakishly acclimated to heat and humidity, enabling me to continue living my life, where others I know are relegated to being shut-ins when the weather is above 75 degrees. Saturday, I went out to dinner with my husbands family to Ruby Tuesdays (blech) and it was so cold in that restaurant, I seriously wished that I had a sweater or something. It was ridiculously cold...I was literally shivering. But everyone else was fine. Then we went to a local fair and walked around where all the families (there weren't that many due to the heat) literally looked like they could die at any second. People appeared to be melting. It wasn't even that hot....and it was evening. Too bad I'm not having kids, because mine would have been evolutionarily pre-disposed to succeed during a period of global warming. And I don't understand all the deaths from heat. How does that happen? Unless you are so accustomed to living in your air conditioned home, driving in your air conditioned car to your air conditioned office space and shopping and eating in malls and restaurants you could store meat in that you can no longer tolerate heat and humidity. If you have access to water and an open widow with a fan, how do you die? Sometimes I wish that I could live in the days before air conditioning. The days of sleeping porches and wide front porches crowded with wicker furniture and huge ceiling fans, and just the slower pace that summer took because of the heat. That's all gone now. I've read a few times that many old-time southerners credit air conditioning with the demise of many southern traditions as well as the 'pace' of the south in the summertime. Gone are the days of the Seersucker suit and the chilly libation on the front porch. All year round you can live, shop, drive, and work at a comfy 72 degrees.
And speaking of the South, only a short while until I am there for a much deserved and much anticipated TWO WEEK vacation on Hatteras Island! woohoo. The countdown has begun. And I won't share the countdown on here, cause I'm not entirely sure who all reads this blog and I don't really want to advertise when it is exactly that I'll be away. But I am super excited. I am resisting my desire to start making lists, cause it is a little too early for that. The only bad thing about the house we stay in is the damn AIR CONDITIONING. I tried to turn it off when we stayed there last year. What good is having a waterfront house when you can't hear or smell the water. But the screens had been removed in most of the windows for repair, so that didn't happen. I did find out that my dogs LOVE air conditioning, because they refused to come outside most of the time, unless they knew they were going in the water. Sit outside and lie on the deck while I read? No thanks, they said, we'll watch from inside. Girly-dogs.
posted by meresy_g at Monday, July 31, 2006
9 Comments:
We didn't have air conditioning in my boyhood home until I was well into my teens. I think today, if you didn't have air conditioning in the Kansas City neighborhood where I live, a parent would be accused of child abuse.
Probably. I'm the only psycho around without it I guess. I was doing yardwork on Sunday and two cars actually slowed down and looked at me (with their windows tightly rolled up of course) like "look at the crazy woman outside sweating"
Air conditioning hurts my bones. We went out to lunch recently and the place was FREEZING. This is Maine in July, I'm trying to enjoy my fried fish and wishing I had a SWEATER! I didn't grow up with it (we suffered through those NJ summers), and I still can't understand why people up here even have it. I do think that a/c is source of many of the ills of society.
I love the idea of unflattering lighting in the before shots. Don't forget to really glam it up in the after, like those cheesy weight loss ads.
Yeah, I'll have to have local garnishes now. "This red wine reduction drizzled all over the plate was made from local wine". Whenever we go out to eat now, I always wear long sleeves unless it's outside. And I can't put winter tops away, cause I wear them all summer in the office. I can't imagine why you would need it in Maine. Your summer isn't that long. You'd think people would almost enjoy being hot for a few days when faced with a winter as long you have. I'm claustrophobic or something in the summer. I can't stand not to have the windows open, especially at night. I need to hear crickets and tree frogs at night.
You're a better woman than me. I've spent the last 2 months doing the A/C Dash. Though I tend to get pretty nasty migraines when I spend too much time in the heat, and I'll do pretty much anything to avoid those. I love being hot when there's a breeze, but it seems even breezes don't want to visit us this summer. It's been nothing but still, soupy, and hot.
Count me in the wusses...
If you're getting migraines from the heat, that's a different story. You are excused.
Now I really know we're getting weak. When the native tribal elders of this country can't handle the heat without air conditioning, you know that we really are doomed. Native Americans need a/c?? How did this happen??
ps... is it going to be 100 in your neighborhood today? I checked my parents weather in NJ: 103. Here? 89.
Hey that was me... I didn't mean to be anonymous!
It was in the mid-90s yesterday and maybe a little higher today. It is hot and if I drove past an AC unit at the end of someone's driveway today on the way home and it had a "free - works" sign on it, I would pick that thing up. But I won't buy one. We sweat. A lot. I sat outside until dark, had a few beers, and read. I went to the farmers market after work yesterday and everyone looked like they were going to die. Except for the Amish. They weren't even sweating. I just figure I'll look back fondly on these days when I am freezing my ass off in January.
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