In my apartment, the windows are always open. Minus thirty degrees outside? Windows open. Twenty degrees out? Windows AND doors open. I have set the thermostat as low as it goes, but our apartment is happiest when it’s hot, it seems. In the middle of winter, we’d come in and rip off our overcoats, hats and mitts as fast as possible to acclimatize to our permanently tropical habitat. Last night, in the middle of a heat wave, it reached thirty degrees outside. Inside our apartment, the needle indicated to us it was something higher than 35 degrees, because that’s as high as our thermometer goes. There were dishes to do, bags to empty and put away, but all we could do was lie on the couches with fans directly pointing our direction.
Roommate and I thought using the oven to create a meal was a bad idea. Mainly, neither of us particularly wanted to be the cook who’d have to stand in front of an oven, while living in a larger oven. We decided to go for Thai, using the excuse that it was our race weekend reward.
Upon our return, we decided to forego anything requiring movement. The thin layer of sweat covering our bodies did not need to be any thicker. So, we instead resumed our couch positions with the fans blasting us at level 4, and watched girlie teen movies. It was perfect, just like that!
I have come to accept and mildly even embrace the consistently Equator-esque temperature of our abode. I take comfort knowing I always know what to expect when I climb the stairs and open our door: heat. At first, I tried to use the mentality that our apartment was a vacation on some Caribbean island. Now, as the heat returns in full force, I would like to think I am lucky because I live in a sauna: With constant hydration of course, there are health benefits, I’m sure. Like, my skin will always be flushing itself of impurities with constant sweat. I always have a cute flush to my cheeks- no blush even needed! And my hair will be healthier because I don’t have to blast it with a blow dryer for 20 minutes: It air dries within about 10 and keeps me cool in the meantime!
I’m not sure how much more dramatic this experience will become, as it’s only the month of May, and full-scale summer humidity has not yet arrived. For now, I’ll enjoy my make-believe vacation home.