Journal Prompt For June-Did You Have Air Conditioning In Your Childhood Home?

 June is a hot month.  Did you have air conditioning growing up?  

If not, how did you survive the heat?  What is your perfect temperature setting in the summer?

As long as I can remember, I have liked a cold bedroom. In the summer, happy with a temperature below 70 degrees, and in the winter, I achieved the perfect sleeping weather by opening the window and taking whatever mother nature has to offer.

Do I like to feel cold at night?  No, but I don't want to be hot. That is torture for me, and forget getting any sleep in hot, humid weather.  So I say give me a cold room with lots of blankets year-round, and I am a happy sleeping camper. 

Did we have AC growing up?  No.  We lived on the eastern shore of Maryland, and no, it did not get as hot and humid as here in NC, but there were some unbearably hot days and nights.

There were nights in Maryland I would lay in bed drenched in sweat with a small fan circulating more hot air all around me.  There were countless sleepless and sweaty nights. On the nights I could no longer stand the discomfort, I would head for the basement. I would take a pillow and a sheet, and off I would venture down two flights of stairs to the unfinished basement.

As I said, the basement was unfinished.  As you descended the basement stairs, you would get hit with a musty, damp smell.  I did not care because even with that musty scent, that dampness had a cooling effect, and I could not wait to lie down on the couch that was positioned in the center of the concrete floor.  I would lay down on the musty-scented couch, cover myself with my sheet and fall peacefully to sleep content that I was no longer hot.

Here I sit, decades away from my Maryland childhood.  I have heard many people my age, in my middle 60s, dislike cold of any form, and that is why many older adults move to Fla. That is in no way the case for me.  If I had it my way, my home would consistently be at 67-68 degrees, so with that in mind, I could never live in Fla. 

The perfect temperature for me would be a nice 70 degrees in the daytime and 68 at night.  Don't forget that at night, I also need lots of blankets and at least two fans, and then I can sleep like a baby:-)

PS: This has nothing to do with AC but has to do with cold sleeping conditions.  When I was a kid, probably in middle school, it was winter, but the heat was set so high that I could not sleep.  I remember kicking all the covers off and laying there sweating.  I opened the window but with little relief.  I tolerated it as long as I could and headed out to find the thermostat.  I don't know what temp I turned it down to. All I remember is that I woke up to hear my father yelling because the pipes had frozen and burst.  I never confessed that I was to blame...until now:-)

I would love to hear your answer...

Happy Writing!

KathieyV