Life without Air Conditioning

I say that I don’t care for air conditioning. That I hate the feeling of being sealed into a house, unable to hear the crickets, the rooster crows. That air conditioning makes it so much harder to go outside to feed the animals, to work in the garden. Without air conditioning, I let the weather dictate the day. I rise early and work outside until the heat forces me indoors to the shade. When the heat and humidity is stifling, I take naps in the afternoon. In the evenings I return to working before falling into bed exhausted. Our farmhouse was built before air conditioning. It allows the breeze to come through the house, for air to flow. On most days, I can keep it cool by opening the windows at night and closing them and the shades during the day. Ceiling fans keep the air moving. Life without air conditioning is quite tolerable, I say. Until those few weeks of summer hit, when temperatures hit the 90s during the days and refuse to fall below 70 at night. On those days, I can’t cool the house, and I imagine life with air conditioning.