Open Windows

There has been a great change in the weather. Yesterday the temperature reached 65 degrees. For the first time in a good while the windows are open. I do not have central air. There is a time period when the windows are open. As the season progresses the window air units go in and the windows are shut again.I love it when the windows are open. A nice breeze is always welcome. I enjoy the sounds that drift into the home. The birds chirping and even the traffic sounds. Occasionally I even hear children playing.
With the windows open the home somehow seems larger. The air is definitely fresher. It reminds me of my home growing up. We never had air conditioning of any type. In the spring the windows were opened and rarely closed again until the fall. The only time they may get closed is during a storm. When the wind rose up and sent the rain sideways into the house you would scramble to close those. As a child it was exciting.
Over the years many of us have more or less sealed ourselves into our homes. The windows rarely get opened. We just switch from heat to air. With our new climate control systems no action is even required on our part. A far cry from as few as thirty years ago.
At my Grandmothers house you knew it was spring when it became necessary to take out the storm windows and install the screens. Out to the shed and get those screens out. In the late fall they had been taken out,repaired and repainted in preparation for this time. Each one was numbered with a little brass number and you had to find its' mate on the window frame of the house. This was always a fun activity,at least for us kids. The storm windows removed,they had to be carried to the shed and carefully leaned against the wall. Later they would get the treatment the screens had already received. Following the ritual of installing the screens the windows were open. It was like opening day,almost a celebration.
The weather is supposed to remain pleasant for the next few days. The windows will remain open until the temperature and humidity rises. A prelude to the summer. Summer,when you hear the sounds of the great outdoors in the stillness of the morning and the quiet of the night. The temperature will gradually rise to the point where the window air units become necessary. In they go and once again the windows are closed.
The consolation is the porch. I like having my morning coffee out there. There is not a lot of traffic at five in the morning and it is quite peaceful. As the day progresses the activity increases and the porch becomes less of a refuge. Still it is a pleasant spot. My porch is on the second floor and some would call it a veranda I suppose. If you sit there quietly people pass on the street below and don't even know you are there. I usually grow a few tomatoes out there and plants abound.
Yes,I like it best when the windows are open. By far it is the most enjoyable for me. If not for the humidity I would seriously consider just using fans. There is something reassuring in the sound of a fan running on a hot day. The humidity will win out in the end and the window units go in. For now though, the windows are open !