I am writing these lines from inside the library because it’s rather hot at home.
My apologies to Shel Silverstein for messing with his rhymes.
And I would like to offer a similar sentiment to the readers who check in here every day for musings on Salem and have found, over the past week, little more than a promise of something to come.
Well, something did come.
HEAT WAVE!
We returned from Seattle on Monday to a house that was hanging steady at 105 degrees Fahrenheit. While I would like to say that this is one of those scenarios where tough girls like me, who find prestige in things such as not owning a cable hookup and only watching TV on Netflix, rise above their challenges, I fear that the past few days have outed me as what I truly am: a big fat wimp.
Until this week, we have basked in the cred that comes with living a life less complicated. Having no air conditioning wasn’t just a long-wished-for dream we brought back from Europe, land of no screens and unnecessary AC. The Willamette Valley seemed like the promised land — a land of milk and honey and reasonable, livable temperatures.
Well, I finally broke down last night. At exactly 2:32 a.m., I started sobbing because it was still in the 90s and I had been trying to sleep for three and a half hours. Normally I am a champion sleeper. Last night, I was taunted by a breeze so slight that it merely dragged its pinky aross my arm about once every hour.
I could have broken that pinky.
So what could I do but wake up my husband, who had been slumbering peacefully next to me, and share my concern?
My path back to sleep:
1. Play with cats
2. Sit on front stoop in my underwear and get a little scared by the quiet of Salem in the middle of the night
3. Take a shower
4. Drink some cool water
5. Eat a fruit Popsicle.
6. Eat a Fudgsicle.
7. Wrap a frozen washcloth on my neck
8. Go back and try not to wait for Pinky
I do have one major excuse for acting like such a baby. I am now four and a half months pregnant and have morphed in a 5 foot 4 inch fiery furnace.
But don’t feel bad for me, this torture is all my own. Friends and colleagues have offered to lend me a spot on their blow-up mattresses. And still, every night at about 8 p.m., I am in the same spot, believing once again that I can do this.
Really, I feel like I can do it tonight.
I’ll be thinking about all of you stoop sitters.
Great post (love the pinky imagery!!). I feel for y’all. Apparently the midwest and northeast switched climatic stations this summer: it has barely been above 80 ALL JULY. What?? Where am I? The corn is weeks behind and therefore the world biofuel economy about to collapse, etc. etc. etc., but holy crap is it nice to not even consider turning on the AC. In fact, I’m currently wearing a sweatshirt and considering some late-night baking to warm up the house… Sending you cool vibes.
They are much appreciated. Tonight Adam is trying a two-fan circulatory system. We got another invitation to stay over somewhere else, but after such a long trip away, I’m being a total baby about sleeping away from home.
Poor Iowa corn farmers. Except for the Monsanto ones…
Baths. Baths! And laptops! At the same time! These have been my saviors the last three days, along with a personal expectation to get exactly nothing done. Oh, also the in-window fan for night time. Turn it on an hour before bed, heaven.
I’ve lived this-a-way my whole life (thought my home town, which is also experiencing the heat wave, is experiencing it at about 15 degrees less than we are (I’m in Dallas, so not too far from Salem). I’ve never had an air conditioner and never will. It’s just that yeah, there are a few days a year where you will truly wish your entire house was enclosed in a refrigerator. Stay strong!
It is difficult to explain the determination to not have an air conditioner to people who can’t live without one. Generally, I count myself among the former group. I have a strong inclination not to be a wilting flower that falls limp at the tiniest of temperature changes. We should start a facebook group or something.
Congrats on being pregnant. You’ll find that Salem is an amazing town for families. There is so much here for children to do with lots of great parks and open spaces. When we first moved here with two children(3mos and 2.5 years at the time) the family friendly atmosphere was one of the first things we noticed. I look forward to reading about how you’ll experience this town as a family. As far as the heat goes, go get a window AC and just run it a few days a year. Put it in the garage the rest of the time. No one will think less of you for having one.
Heh heh, I was wondering how I would slip in a pregnancy announcement when it has not been revealed on this blog yet…
I was at Target yesterday and encountered a man and his 8 months pregnant wife and their two kids trying to track down AC. I really felt for them. Last night was better and I may just try to tough this one out…
Congratulations to you and your husband!!
I grew up here in Salem, and have lived here most my life. As a kid we never had air conditioning, and have had to use wet towels or wash cloths to cool us down in front of the fan at night. I have to admit though, for the first time ever I got desperate enough to purchase an AC unit. I am not proud, but I’m also not as grumpy as I would have been without it. It has slowly become a necessary evil in Oregon to have AC. More and more homes have been built with central air or heat pumps. My house, unfortunately, holds on to heat like a greedy kid with candy. Of course the opposite is true in the winter.
Thank goodness for big glasses of ice water and cold showers!
Congratulations! Its been HOT all right. Normally I can get by with Oregon air conditioning, (opening all the windows and blowing the fans outwards at night, waking up early to turn them around to blow in in the morning, and then standing half in and half out of the doorway numerous times until you feel that the temperatures inside and out have reached similar levels, then closing up all the windows and blinds and adding extra dark curtains to keep out the heat. Repeat the next night.) but the last few days have been crazy. Mostly because it didn’t cool down at night, and all the fans in the world can’t make hot air cool down 20 degrees.
Emily, congratulations! That is so exciting. It has been brutally hot here, but you can do it… You don’t have to get an a/c unit, these days are so few around here. We always get a couple each year but they don’t last. I’ve never had a/c in my life until my current apartment (one little unit in the living room window), and always did ok. My husband and I just go to Northern Lights for the day and we’re good. (Seriously… you can see two back to back movies and get dinner and drinks for two and it will cost you less than two movie tickets to a single Regal Cinemas movie….!)
Hang in there.. I think the worst has passed.
I appreciate the support! Northern Lights — how I have wanted to go. But the line-up lately… it’s atrocious! Year One? Ghosts of Girlfriends Past? If we hadn’t paid full price to see Wolverine – each of Hugh Jackman’s pecs costing $4.50 – we would have seen that. I almost went to see Monsters Vs. Aliens yesterday, but my husband would have killed me if I saw it without him.
Congrats on the baby! I would echo Salem Man’s sentiments about Salem being family friendly. Lots to do here for the younger set.
I was born with an air conditioner, being from So Cal..you couldn’t go 4 ft. without being air conditioned. Moving to Oregon, I resolved to tough it out because my husband thought that ac was silly. Two summers ago we broke down and put it in the house because our little guy was hot, cranky and sweaty during a summer heat wave. It was the baby that broke our resolve. When he was cranky, we all were cranky. So we did it. I just usually don’t go around telling people we have it. Not very “Oregonian” of me!
We moved to Salem about 8 years ago, in July. Also a house with no AC. The first night it got too hot to sleep, I went out to Winco at 2AM (the only place that was open), bought a fan (a standing oscillating one because that’s all they had), put it together right then, and finally got some ZZzs.
We still have that fan; I’ve fixed it once and it’s starting to fall apart, but it’s been very handy.
And, I hate to admit it, but about 3 years ago I broke down and put an AC unit in the bedroom. Until these past few days I think I’ve only used it 2 or 3 days total.
Well, we finally broke down and got an air conditioner a day or two ago. It was hell before that. We also moved here for milder weather… not so cold in the winter, and not so HOT in the summer! I saw a question twitter from TheSquare up in Portland, asking if we’d rather survive another snowy winter, or this heat. I vote for more snow! At least snow is fun. Ha!
Congrats on the little one, I didn’t know!
P.S. If anyone is still looking for an A/C, we got ours at Kelly’s… we got lucky, they had just received a whole truck load of them when we called. Not sure if they still have any left, but it’s worth a try!
♥
Thanks for the tip! DancingMooney, no one else knew until this post either. I’ve been a reluctant baby blogger…
This has all been very eye opening; I didn’t realize there was so much personal dignity at stake in the decision about whether or not to have AC! Wimp? Really? My policy regarding outrageous heat is that life is too short to put up with losing entire days of it being reduced to an immobilized, dizzy, nauseated wreck, especially in my own home. That being said, I hate AC and run ours as little as possible. The old rule was when it hit 90 outside we’d switch to AC, but a recent renegotiation initiated by my husband resulted in a revised threshold of 85. The whole time it’s running, I’m keeping an eye on the weather widget on my computer desktop, and as soon as it hits 79 I race through the house opening everything back up.
We’ve been in this house in Salem for ten years, and this week was the first time we’ve ever run the AC for more than six hours in one day; unbelievable. We’ve also gone ten years without having any maintenance done on it, so I’m pretty sure our carriage is about to turn into a pumpkin. That subject involves a whole other marital negotiation (I’m a fan of preventive maintenance, but my husband prefers crisis and drama and holding out to the bitter end, topped off by having the nerve to be surprised when something wears out and dies).
Congratulations on the baby. Connecting that to one of your previous topics (people talking bad about Salem), I remember trying to research this town before we came here and finding an abundance of silence, especially in the books that were geared more toward young adults. The Lonely Planet Guide to the Pacific Northwest barely mentioned Salem, simply offering the backhanded compliment that “It’s a good place to raise children.”
I guess for me, part of holding out on AC is that I like the idea that the weather is so extreme every once in a while that everyone takes note and slows down their day and enjoys each other.
In the small PNW town where I grew up, we’d get on average 1 snow day per year. Even if school wasn’t canceled, a lot of parents would keep their kids home for the day – not out of fear, but for fun! Everyone would drive very, very slowly and stop in the middle of the road to chat. We were all bundled up and sledding and enjoying our hot chocolate. There was just a sense of real enjoyment and awe of the weather. Some East Coast transplants would sneer that where they were from, the world didn’t “shut down” with a couple of inches of snow. But I was glad my town completely changed when it snowed. It was so rare that we weren’t prepared for it but we enjoyed it.
I want to feel the same way about the heat this last week. And I’d be closer to, if I knew of a great watering hole nearby.
I agree, this has been strangely illuminating. If I had known this would engender so much discussion, I would have written an entire column about it. There’s always next year…
Yay!! Congrats on your preggers announcement!! I’m excited to hear what it is=) I dont think I would have made it thru this weather without our basement. I have a new appreciation for my basement and I think we will sleep down there all month.. Hope to see you two soon!!
Emily, congratulations!
FYI, the chubbier part of pregnancy is actually worse in hot weather (1 son, born July 27, is how I know this). With four and a half months yet to go…is it possibly a Christmas baby you’re expecting?