The Good Old Days Were ... Hot!

It's funny how something as simple as getting into a car can bring back a memory from childhood.

I got into my car, which was parked as usual in my garage, this morning prior to going to Trader Joe's. The car thermometer read 80 degrees F, so I decided to drive with the sunroof open rather than turning on the air conditioning. That simple act took me back to my childhood in the suburbs of Chicago, where summers were (and still are) hot and humid.

When I was a kid, cars didn't have air conditioning. We simply rolled the windows down, and perhaps the adults in the front would open the small 'wing' windows on each of the front doors. This is my memory of family trips to go camping in Wisconsin or to drive to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore and other sights. We usually made a trip to southern Illinois every summer to visit my grandparents as well. It was hot, and we were terribly dirty and windblown by the time we stopped for the day. But the motels where we stayed had swimming pools, which, even for someone like me who can't swim, were a welcome delight. My grandparents' house, however, had no pool.

Our house also didn't have air conditioning, although eventually my father installed a window unit in my parents' bedroom and then one in the dining room. I remember lying awake many nights, unable to sleep despite a fan running in a vain attempt to stay cool. Windows were open to let in any breezes, allowing me to listen to the crickets chirping outside. 

These days, especially living in the high desert as I do, air conditioning is an absolute necessity. Being able to have the windows open is a rare luxury limited to only a couple of weeks in the spring and a couple of weeks in the fall. Otherwise I am cooped up inside my air conditioned house, shut off from the outside world. As an old person now, I don't think I could easily handle life in the heat and humidity. But it's nice to reminisce about the 'good old days' once in a while and appreciate the advances that make life so much more comfortable.