Well…
it happened… the first sighting.
I
should have seen it coming. Definitely not my favorite things
to see. But it’s going to happen, whether I like it or not, at
some point around this time of the year.
To
be fair, it’s not something I can honestly say I notice happening
earlier and earlier. September. October. Even November. It’s still
too early for me.
The
flannel sheets have been brought out.
It’s
something that has gone on for several years. But has become a
real debate topic in our house over the past couple of fall seasons,
replacing an argument over an air conditioner.
Much
like all of us, Terry can be a creature of habit… or more precisely,
a creature of comfort habit. And the air conditioner story is
a perfect example.
Every
spring, usually around May, we would break out the air conditioners
and I would begin setting them up around the house. Some of the
locations changed from year to year… dining room one year might
become office the next… as we tried out different ways to improve
circulation and comfort throughout the house while making some
attempts at not blowing the electrical bill through the roof.
One
consistent placement was in our bedroom. Pretty obvious and standard
concept there… even our dogs seemed to begin sleeping better once
the AC was turned on in the bedroom.
The
challenges would begin in September.
One
thing I hate about pulling out the air conditioners is dripping
water throughout the house. Perhaps a contest of sorts, it was
still an unwelcome one as I would attempt to balance the unit
without spilling water all over the floors and stairs as I tried
to get the damn thing outside so I could let it drain a bit and
dry out.
Funny
thing that water… seemed to be a few days every year in mid to
late September where we would get a run of rain. Heavy rain. Heavy
windblown rain. For some amazing reason, if the air conditioners
came out before those rainy days, I could tip the darn things
in any direction without a drop of water hitting the ground. (I
know… stunning.)
Terry
didn’t care.
The
whir of the fan… even if just the fan with the AC turned off…
was a tremendous sleeping aid, placed at an unapproachable level
of soothing. She would often threaten me well into October before
finally allowing me to pull them out and close up the windows.
One year, she actually succeeded in delaying the project into
November.
And
then… we moved into a house with central air.
I
am not kidding when I say this – there actually was a discussion
about putting an air conditioner in our bedroom window the first
summer in the new house.
I’ll
pause for a moment while that connects.
And
now, revisiting the idea with more detail…
Terry
began a discussion with me that was based on placing an air conditioner
in a bedroom window. This window was in our new house, which has
central air, and that central air works quite well.
For
some reason, in a victory for every “I know this is silly, but…”
thought ever raised for consideration, we did manage to agree
on not doing it.
(We
kept most of the units though. I mean, central air or no, we’re
not crazy. If we have them… the central air will work. As soon
as we consider giving them away or getting rid of them… the central
air won’t switch on. It’s a fairly famous corollary to the “if
I have it I won’t need it, but if I don’t bring it I will” theory.)
All
of which ultimately brings us back to flannel sheets.
Terry
likes them. I’m not a fan. (I just personally find they can get
too warm, and they are no longer comfy-cozy and instead turn into
a furnace of unending cruelty.)
With
no air conditioners to install and remove, we have definitively
shifted the methods for spotting the changing seasons. And it
is not Santa’s arrival in retail stores, nor the pumpkin spice
flavored invasion of coffee shops, that marks the arrival of my
true discontent.
It’s
the switch to flannel sheets.
Fortunately,
this year, we got them onto the bed just in time for the weather
forecast to be declaring the arrival of four days in the mid to
high 70s, along with a record-breaking run into the 80s that should
arrive tomorrow. (But… who could have predicted that?)