Not everyone’s a fan of my household’s fan plan
With apologies to Sam Cooke, it is summer time, but the livin’
ain’t always that easy, particularly when the temperature hit 89
degrees this week
– INSIDE MY HOUSE!
It’s the same story every year in Hollister: We complain that it
doesn’t feel like summer because the high temperature won’t go
beyond the 70s or it’s too foggy, and then when it does heat up we
act like the sun has become a supernova and is going to melt the
Earth.
Not everyone’s a fan of my household’s fan plan
With apologies to Sam Cooke, it is summer time, but the livin’ ain’t always that easy, particularly when the temperature hit 89 degrees this week – INSIDE MY HOUSE!
It’s the same story every year in Hollister: We complain that it doesn’t feel like summer because the high temperature won’t go beyond the 70s or it’s too foggy, and then when it does heat up we act like the sun has become a supernova and is going to melt the Earth.
At least that’s how it is in my household.
People often say that you only need air conditioning a few days a year in Hollister, so if you can suffer through a few uncomfortable nights in July and August, you’ll feel good about saving the cost of the unit during the other 10 months of the year.
But when the wall thermostat for the heater shows the inside temperature climbing into the 80s, it makes the whole situation worse.
The front of my house faces west, which has its positives and its negatives. On the plus side, the prevailing wind blows at the house – and through it when the front and back windows are open – so it acts like a natural air conditioner when the temperature is moderate. On the downside, the house gets about eight hours of direct sun during the summer, negating the benefit of open windows and creating a blast furnace effect.
I went to college in Fresno, so I know heat. But I didn’t go to college with a wife and two teenage boys, who when all put together with me on the couch under the ceiling fan, feed off each other’s misery and make it seem even hotter than it is.
My wife mentioned this week that we could buy a mobile air conditioning unit that she saw on QVC, but then she realized that by the time it’s delivered in a week or so it’ll probably be back in the 80s outside, as is the strange nature of San Benito County weather.
During hot spells, my 16-year-old son acts as if he is melting, sprawled shirtless on the couch like he has just crossed the Sahara instead of walking down the hallway from his bedroom. And I’m moving around the house trying to get the right mix of air flow and sun blockage from the window coverings, spawning discussions about whether it’s better to have a slight breeze with sunlight shining through or no breeze with shade.
I’ve developed a summertime routine in which I open the west-facing windows in the morning before the sun hits them and open the east-facing windows after the sun passes overhead. We have the ceiling fans going and a standing fan oscillating in the family room where the boys are lounging for part of the day. It’s like I live on a farm, with morning chores and evening duties designed to keep the whole thing operating.
I’ve found that when our front door is open I can get a good breeze blowing through the house. I’ve also found that my indoor cat tries to sneak her way outside when the screen-less door is open. She thinks I can’t see her as she slowly creeps toward the outside world, stopping a few times to lie down on the tile before slinking out as my attention turns to the television.
Her curiosity often kills my air flow plan after 10 minutes, because I get frustrated with shooing her back inside and close the door. I then remind her that she is the one with a coat of fur and if she can’t follow my rules, then she’ll have to suffer through the heat with the rest of us. She gives me a cold glance, reminding me that she doesn’t speak English or any other human language, and I get back to work battling the sun.
At night we sleep with the bedroom windows open when it’s hot, but then the sprinklers come on at 6 a.m. the next morning and disturb what had already been a restless sleep. The ceiling fan cools things down a bit, though my wife says it’s too loud to have on through the night and we often end up turning it off.
After all the window opening and closing and fan settings and cat chasing and whining about the heat, the best bet on a hot Hollister summer night is to sit still in front of the fan with a glass of ice water watching a show about snow and talking about how cold it is. When that doesn’t work, I drive in my air conditioned truck to an air conditioned store and by some ice cream, knowing that the heat in Hollister is only temporary.
Adam Breen teaches newspaper and yearbook classes at San Benito High School and is a reporter for The Pinnacle. He is former editor of the Free Lance. He can be reached by e-mail at ab****@pi**********.com.
