I grew up in Israel before every home had air conditioning, and the month of August was a challenge even for the august and robust among us.
Memory #1: the heat so suffocating, my best friend
and I lay splayed on cool tile floors and as soon as the tile underneath warmed from our boiling bodies, we crawled to the next not-yet warmed tiles.
Memory #2: Getting yelled at for sticking my face in
the refrigerator and keeping its door open. I wanted to step inside and stay
there.
Memory #3: Volunteering to go to the supermarket for
the daily grocery shopping only to open its freezer case and pretend to be
undecided as to which ice-cream I was about to put in my grocery basket.
Getting yelled at there also, only this time it was the store manager.
Memory #4: Mothers setting a large washbasin with
cold water on the front porch. My best friend and I dunking ourselves in. This stopped
as we got older and our cold bathing began to draw a small crowd of onlookers.
Is it any wonder I chose to live on the Northern California
coast, where, to paraphrase Mark Twain, “the coldest winter is the summer”?
As the earth heats, I wish y’all working air-conditioners
and robust ice-dispensing fridges.
Mirka, such wonderful memories! I love that you lay about on the tile floors and had a fridge or freezer to chill you a bit.
ReplyDeleteWe had stone floors so we dumped buckets of water on the floor. We also just wore wet chemises in the house to stay cool. Ah, the magic of evaporation! And the monsoons were always welcome!
You and your friend were obviously creative in finding ways to deal with the heat. I ran around barefooted and even without a shirt up until about 4th grade.
ReplyDeleteI don’t tolerate heat well and don’t like AC, so living on the coast of northern California is perfect!
ReplyDeleteI love air conditioning. When I was a kid, before AC, my grandmother's advice was to put an ice cube on your wrists.
ReplyDeleteI think the worst hot and humid weather I encountered was in New Orleans in early September. My travel agent didn't bother to tell me that it was also hurricane season! I wandered down the main street of the French Quarter, popping my head in the door of every other air-conditioned store.