I moved to Colorado fourteen years ago. The air is thinner here. Lighter. And I love it.
I love to have my windows open and truly dread winter when they are closed. On those days when the temperature reaches the 50’s, I release the old air and let in the new air.
In the heat of summer, my husband is always trying to have me close the windows during the heat of the day, but I would still rather have them open.
The boys and I visit my parents in New York every summer. Their house backs to a marsh. The air is oppressively heavy and thick. This summer the temperatures rose to over 100 degrees. My parents have central air conditioning and I hate it. They had it on the entire week we were there. Trying to beat the heat and humidity.
I don’t mind the air conditioning during the day. It’s the nighttime that is awful. Around 2 am the temperature outside is cooler. The air conditioning no longer goes on because the temperature has dropped. But my father insists we keep all the windows closed.
I toss and turn in my sleep, uncomfortable in the stuffy room. I feel as if I’m suffocating. I gasp for air like I did as an asthmatic child. Groggily I get out of bed. It’s so hot. I fumble through the dark and throw open all the windows in the room. The whoosh of fresh air washes over me. I crawl back to bed and sleep like a baby.
I count the minutes until I can return to Colorado. To dry air. To lighter air. To sleep with open windows and a fan. I may go to sleep without even a sheet, but by morning I am pulling the covers around me.
Fresh air.
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The inspiration for the post came from a post I read this morning about a woman’s relationship to the elements, Brea’s Air.
I’ve lived in the South most of my life and we run the air more than the heat. Our air has been running all night long this summer – it never cools off enough to turn it down. It would be nice to go without it.
We keep our house pretty cool during the winter. I’m not sure I could live in the South. I’m glad you have air conditioning.
Nice post. There is a wonderful breeze blowing cool and refreshing here in North Dakota, today. My house is a study in air movement! 😀
I moved to CO 6 years ago from NY. There is something about CO that causes a person to SLOW DOWN and enjoy 🙂 Good think to think about today 🙂
We moved from NC to Colorado. And I grew up in FL. I can attest to the necessity of having windows closed and AC on, especially in the middle of summer. And, your descriptions of the oppressive humidity reminded me yet again why we moved back to CO. I hated the humidity. And love the windows open…although I do have to fight my husband to keep them open too. Not sure he’s quite used to doing it yet. 🙂
The one and only thing I like about humidity is how curly my hair gets. ; )
Hi! Stopping by from MBC.Great blog!
Have a nice day!