Betsy Devine: Funny ha-ha and/or funny peculiar

Air conditioning, 1959

Originally uploaded by betsythedevine.

Two bathing suits–as you can see from my suntan–that’s all it took to get through the hottest of summers, pre-air-conditioning.

There were lots of cool places, even when fear of polio shut down the swimming pools. Our barn’s old cellar, shady and full of good earth smells. Our annual treehouse. A nearby mini-pine forest that had (I think) once been planned as commercial Christmas-trees.

Today in Cambridge in May, temperatures floated in between 80 and 90. After multi-errands to air-conditioned places, this felt too hot! But then I found a shady place outside, a book to read, a little breeze, and the distraction of visiting squirrels and sparrows soon brought me back to the idea that this is fine weather.