I’ve heard the stories from folks like my grandpa. He’s been gone ages now as I’m closer to 60 than I want to be. But we’re from around here and our history in this region goes all the way back to when we got off a boat somewhere and settled here. That was well before we had stuff like residential HVAC. And as hot as it is from June through September, it couldn’t have been easy to work in this sort of heat and humidity. Yet those folks got up at 2 or 3 in the morning to get the chores done before to sun got high and made it work most impossible. They didn’t go inside and crank the thermostat for some wonderful HVAC cooling. The best case scenario was finding a shady spot know for a breeze and fan yourself until the heat relented a bit in the evening. That’s why I get a bit unhinged with the way some folks around here act during the summer. They whine incessantly about the temperature and then stay ensconced in central air conditioning for months. It’s just such a waste. I think that a lot of living in this region also comes with a certain acceptance of the heat. Don’t get me wrong, I’m super thankful for the air conditioning and the HVAC professionals that take care of it. But there is so much to enjoy outside the air conditioning as well. Just not at straight up noon in the summer.
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