Well, in MY Day.....

We're in the midst of a heat wave here in south-central PA.  Yesterday it got up to 105 degrees, according to our thermometer.  The local newspaper had a big article about how to survive the heat.  TV stations were featuring news stories about people "coping" with the terrible temperatures.  Me?  I was sitting inside with a sweatshirt on.

"Honey," I told the Commander.  "Maybe you could turn the thermostat up a little.  I'm always freezing in here and it just seems counter-productive to be sitting under quilts or in cold-weather gear when we are in the midst of record temps outside."

There was a little grumbling but he agreed to reset it from 75 degrees to 78 degrees.  Yay!

Today attendance was quite light at church.  The Commander and I were speculating what the reason for this was over our lunch.

"It was probably the heat," he said.  "No one wants to come out when it's this hot."

"I don't get it," I replied.  "What in the world did people do back when most folks didn't have central air conditioning?  When I was growing up in Michigan and Minnesota, most of my friends didn't have air conditioning.  We all survived and thought nothing of going around outside doing our normal activities."

In fact, I STILL do a lot of the things during a heat wave that we did growing up.  I keep the shades drawn to help keep the rooms cooler.  If I get too hot, I go down to the basement (where it is ALWAYS cold) and put my feet up and do nothing.  My mom always told me that I'd get hotter using my muscles to fan myself than I would just sitting quietly.  I don't know if that is true or not.  She might have been using that as an excuse to get my brother and I to go somewhere and give her some peace and quiet.  I drink lots of liquids to stay hydrated.  We run our ceiling fans, which help move the air in the rooms.  If all else fails, we can always go drive to an air-conditioned mall and eat some ice cream.

I was telling a friend about our decision to make the "sacrifice" to up the thermostat to 78 degrees.  To be honest, I was kind of waiting for the praise that I thought might be coming for my conservation efforts.

"Seventy-eight degrees?"  she said.  "Gee, I keep my house set at eighty degrees.  I'm not about to pay the high electrical bills to keep it any cooler."

Wow, and I thought I was tough!  Of course, there's always my 98-year-old mom whose favorite saying in this type of weather is, "Eh, I shocked corn in 100 degree weather.  This is nothing."

Besides, it could be a lot worse.  My brother sent me pics the other day from Michigan where roofers were putting on a new roof at his house.  They are also in the midst of a heat wave and the temps were hovering right around the 100 degree mark.  Can you imagine what it must have been like for the poor guys up on his roof?  He told me that they said it was around 120 degrees up there.  Bless their hearts.  I hope they were rewarded at the end of the day with something cold and icy.

Keep cool!