Thursday, July 6, 2017

Big Fan

The air conditioning in my house went on the fritz on the 4th of July.  The landlord came by and it was determined that the main cooling unit needed to be replaced.  This being the busiest time of year for air conditioning replacement, it will take a couple of days before they get to me.

I spent the first 20 years of my life without central air, and summers in northwestern Ohio are as sweltering as they are down here, the difference being that in Ohio it cools off a little at night and doesn’t last six months at a stretch.

My parents tell me that as an infant I was fascinated with fans.  I have a vague memory of that, but I do have memories of being lulled to sleep by the hum and breeze from the fan in my room.

 

I’ve opened the windows, turned on the ceiling fans, and dug out an old fan to move the air around and do its evaporative cooling magic.  Just like the summers I remember.  Now all I need is Ernie Harwell calling the Detroit Tigers game and lightning bugs out in the backyard.

6 barks and woofs on “Big Fan

  1. We have a spare window air conditioner for just such emergencies. Otherwise I would have to put Russ in a hotel. He does breathing exercises twice a day now.

  2. We had no air conditioning when we lived in Houston. An attic fan would try to make the nights bearable until we moved to Dallas when we were able to afford a couple of window air conditioners, one for the master bedroom and another for a small family room. Floor fans tried to take up the slack in the living room and the second bedroom. I was pregnant with you then and to get relief I remember flopping down on the floor between a hallway and the room your brother and sister slept in where a breeze might struggle to penetrate the 100+ plus degree days. Rotating fans were a must then so you probably associated them with “home” when you were a year old in the play pen. Hummmmm . . . happiness.

    • I have a vivid memory of the black Cisco stool fan in the middle of the bedroom that CLW and I shared. It had a soothing buzzing sound that was in tune with the late summer cicadas. I think you appropriated it for the greenhouse where it rusted away.

  3. Mr Cramer, I am a late subscriber to your blog and I am ever amazed at how prolific and creative you are. Approaching 70, I wish there had been such an outlet when I was in my 30’s. But then few of us could work for a news paper. Thanks for your input.

    • It’s never too late. I’m approaching 70 … six years to go … and I started BBWW at the youthful age of 51. Thank you for your kind words, and thank you for reading.

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