why i avoid ac in the summer
I was just in the Yucatan, touring a very cool spot named Coba. Our tour was a mix of Europeans and Americans, and in the bus the (French) tour guide mentioned: No one will be happy with the aircon on this trip, Europeans hate it, American want more of it, I cannot possibly win.
Who knew? There was a whole continent out there who hates air con. Just like me.
When I lived in my first walk up in Manhattan in the 90s, I refused to get A/C. When I lived in my Brooklyn apartments for the better part of a decade, one a FOURTH floor walk up, I refused AC.
Thank god I married a man who finds this eccentricity appealing. My 1880s Victorian home was built for a good fresh breeze. Sure, I’ll put A/C in the 3rd floor bedrooms, but for everyone else there are ceiling fans.
We bought a cheap-o shack out in Pennsylvania Lake Country (OK, the Poconos) a few years ago, and it’s become our summer place. My goal is to not feel AC in my home all summer.
So I go to a place with an attic fan and a lot of tree cover and breeze. I avoid AC as much as I can.
At fifty, my eccentricity lives on.
I do this because I like to feel. I like to be in concert with the air around me. What is more of a felt sense than the weather? I like to feel cold in the winter, and layer on the blankets sweaters and hats. I like to feel hot in the summer (did I mention I took a trip to Mexico in July) and structure a network of fans and pools and lakes to dunk my body into.
What’s more “connect with nature” than feeling hot in the summer and cold in the winter?
I have a friend that moved to Austin recently and it PISSES HIM OFF that it’s over 100 degrees every day for 3+ months of the year. He has to stay inside, in AC because it’s simply not safe to live in a place where the coolest part of the day is 95 degrees.
I wasn’t going to mention global warming here, but I’m pretty sure that all those air conditioners aren’t making things better. I’m doing my part, riding my bikes, eating local foods, and keeping the A/C off.
So many of my clients are trying to live in a more mindful. connected way. To be more present for themselves and those around them. What’s more connected than connecting with the temperature outside and making it work for you?
Don’t outrace the heat in the summer. Feel it. Then go jump in a lake or get yourself an ice pop.
I will not turn on my oven in the summer, though I will eat hot food off the grill.
Be where you are. Feel the heat and go with it. Connect with the weather, your self, your life.
