Chilling Out: Savoring Summer Without AC

Do you automatically turn on the air conditioning once the weather hits 80 degrees? Well here’s a mama who’s making us think twice before cranking up the thermostat. Check out her challenge for all of us AC dependents. Think you can do it?

Chilling Out: Savoring Summer Without AC

~By Maureen Smithe Brusznicki, Homemade Mothering

It’s hot.

It’s also July.

So will everyone quit the complaining? I waited all winter for this kind of weather, and I L-O-V-E it! Honestly, if it was hovering close to 85 degrees every day, you’d never hear a negative peep outta me. I’m a summer girl trapped in the northern hemisphere, and it’s likely only a matter of time until I call the equator home.

With that said, it should come as no surprise that I’m not a big fan of air conditioning. During the past two months, I don’t think we’ve turned our AC on more than half a dozen times, and each time was just for a very quick cool down. It seems silly to spend all winter pining for the warmth of summer only to keep our homes and offices so chilly that you need a sweater.

Unless you’re pregnant, ill, or a senior citizen, you probably don’t need AC to survive. Instead of viewing this modern convenience as a necessity, it should be considered a luxury. Air conditioning is a drag on the environment, and it sucks the life right out of summer.

With the windows closed and the AC pumping, we miss out on much of what this season has to offer. Sounds like birds chirping, kids skipping down the street, and lawn mowers buzzing. Scents like fresh-cut grass, an approaching thunderstorm, and basil in the herb garden. With the windows open, it’s almost impossible not to be drawn outdoors, away from the confinement of a shuttered home. Why sit inside when there is so much life to explore outside?

I challenge you to spend a day (or two!) with the AC off and the windows wide open. Let your senses experience this season. Watch the curtains flutter in the breeze. Pretend like you’re a sultry Southern belle as you sip a sweet tea or a homemade cocktail. Sweat a little … and enjoy it.

Maureen Smithe Brusznicki is a wife, mother and friend to Mother Nature. When she’s not playing with her kids, experimenting with homemade cleaning products, or cooking in the kitchen, she likes to blog about living a healthy and simple life at Homemade Mothering. Follow her on twitter and join her on Facebook.