The recent heat wave brought back childhood memories of growing up without air conditioning and how amazing it was to finally have heavier-than-a-tank window units my father would wrestle into each window, accompanied with swearing, in 1958! I can recall our very first TV, which was kept in the cool basement before AC moved into our home. We would gather around the TV to watch, as a family, and often carried our dinners down into the basement when the outdoor weather temperatures made being anywhere else in the home uncomfortable. Lying in bed with a fan blowing on us to keep from drowning in a pool of our own sweat!

The behemoth window unit in my bedroom had square vent outlets that could be pulled out and turned to direct air in a single direction. I would turn them all to blow directly on my bed, which was glorious. Mom read, or heard, somewhere that having the AC blow directly on you was going to make us sick — so began the vent wars with Mom changing the air direction and me changing it back.