Akron Life August 2022

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[ Publisher | Colin Baker | cbaker@bakermediagroup.com ]

Heat Wave

It’s the time of year to seek a cooldown.

It’s the dog days of summer. That phrase refers to Sirius, which is the dog star and the brightest star in the night sky. This period of summer is met with heat, drought, sudden thunderstorms and sup posedly bad luck. This is that stretch of summer that makes me want fall to come early. I have become spoiled with air condi tioning. I spend most of my workday in refrigerated air, and when I go home, it’s pleasant inside, so I spend time on those hot days indoors. I didn’t grow up with air conditioning, and I’m not sure how we managed. At one point, my brother and I shared a third-floor bedroom in North Hill with nothing more than a box fan in the window. I remember taking a shower before bed and waking up sweat ing. If high heat and humidity are all you are accustomed to, your body adapts. When we first bought the house we live in now, we didn’t have air conditioning. The previous homeowners lived there for 20 years and said they could only recall a few hot nights and the house stayed cool. Yeah, the previous owners were probably telling us that because they didn’t want to kill the sale, but they were also from the South. Our house is an old Tudor that doesn’t have ductwork but uses steam heat, so air conditioning isn’t an easy fix. It’s expensive, and most homeowners in our neighborhood have strategically placed window units.

Our first year there, it was super hot. My kids would sleep in the basement on hot nights because it was the only cool space. Air conditioning was installed a year later. I really like sitting out on the deck and enjoying the backyard, but I find myself enjoying the mornings and the evenings only, avoiding the afternoon heat. On cooler days, enjoy the outdoors by heading to a food truck from our guide on pg. 22. To beat the heat, we know a friend with a swimming pool, and I think there is nothing better than having a friend with a pool. You can enjoy it without having to deal with maintenance and all its hassles. I know there are some people who use their pools a lot, and the fun outweighs the work. But my in-laws, who had a pool for

many years, recently downsized and were happy they didn’t have to maintain the pool anymore. I can barely mow the lawn weekly; I can’t imagine having to check the pH levels, skim and clean all the time. My wife and I have spotted a few home owners in the neighborhood with pools and have thought, Is it rude to just go introduce ourselves with the selfish intent of getting to that pool? Maybe someone needs to start a service like Airbnb that rents their pool to me on the weekends when they aren’t using it. And hopefully, they have an air-conditioned pool house to cool off in.

[ Publisher Colin Baker is a retired racing driver and gearhead. ] Comments? Email them to Kelly Petryszyn [kpetryszyn@bakermediagroup.com].

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