It’s funny, but at least one of the people on our street takes the vacuum out to clean off their driveway periodically.
Some folks may think that is a bit extreme.
For me, it’s to each his or her own, including my wife and I pulling out our shop vac last week for outdoor use.
I like to vacuum out the central air conditioning unit for our house before use each year. And of course, I’m always tardy in getting to it with all the other spring jobs around the house.
So there we were last Thursday, on a very warm evening, vacuuming our central air unit.
The more efficient these things are, the better it is for the pocketbook. I like leaf-free cooling vanes, thanks.
As for the tardiness, well, it was 82 F in the house at the time we went out to clean up the unit.
Some may sweat just seeing that number, but the truth is we keep our house at 79 F during the day and evening in the summer months, and 76 F at night.
We use these ancient things called “fans,” you see, to help keep the house feeling cooler, and to help keep from paying even more for electricity.
We have a nice upright circulating fan in the living room, a ceiling fan in our bedroom, and an oscillating fan for our daughter in her room. It’s usually fine for sleeping, and not too bad for when we’re relaxing around the house.
It’s especially nice when we come in from the outdoors during a hot summer day, as 79 F can feel quite cool compared to 90-plus outdoors.
And the basement remains comfortable rather than feeling like a meat locker if we turn the thermostat down even further.
I just don’t get folks who set their air at 72 F. How do you handle the transition to the outdoors on a warm day? Do you wear jeans and long-sleeve shirts, or sweaters?
We are quite fine in T-shirts and shorts indoors at our settings for the most part.
As mentioned, some folks might think we’ve got a screw loose with our air conditioner settings. They might also think we’re downright crazy for using our hot tub to cool down in the summer too.
Yep, a hot tub. I like to set it to 96 F or 97 F in the summer. It still feels warm and relaxing when you step in. Because it’s below your body temperature, however marginally, it does cool you off. We’ll sit in there for an extended period of time as we’re not overheating our bodies, and exit feeling cooler.
For anyone wanting faster relief, we can also rely on the evaporation and wind-chill effects. Sit on the “Terry Seat” – the seat in the hot tub that leaves most of the torso out of the water, and let the wind cool you off.
I enjoy weekend afternoons on warm days when my wife and daughter are relaxing in the hot tub while I’m manning the Big Green Egg, delivering appetizers to the lounging ladies.
Did I mention there’s a beverage fridge located right beside the Egg? One must remain hydrated after all.
The keys to the city
I know Chatham’s nickname is “The Maple City,” and I love maple trees for the excellent shade they provide – we have three in our backyard – but I don’t love the maple keys.
I’m talking about Mother Nature’s version of the Fidget Spinner. When they get large and fall from the maples, it’s pretty cool just to watch them spin slowly to the ground. But when they’re small and they more closely resemble a brigade of miniature paratroopers landing in your backyard, it’s a bit different.
I don’t mind them landing in the grass, of course. But the patio and the pond are the problem spots.
OK, the patio is nothing a leaf blower/sucker and/or broom and shovel can’t solve, but the pond is a pain. We’re constantly cleaning out our skimmer during spring key assaults. I often just turn it off to wait out the keys. Otherwise I wake up the next morning to a pond that has slowed to a trickle as all the keys have clogged up our pump. Not good.
And when those keys are left for a bit on the ground, they tend to want to take root. They contain seeds after all. So your gardens can wind up with dozens of baby maple trees.
Ah, these First Word problems we face …
