Accidental Habits

Houses in Northern Arizona don't have air conditioning.

It's weird to me because I grew up in humid Mid-Missouri, where we would get concerned that old people would die in the summer if they didn't have air conditioning. Seriously, we had fan drives we were so concerned.

But we don't really need it in NorAZ. It's beautiful all summer long. As long as you can open your windows, you're set.

Unfortunately for me, I don't have any windows in my room. I have beautiful french doors that open onto my deck, but no windows. And if I leave the doors open, I get giant bugs that fly into my face while I'm trying to sleep. Not cool, bugs.

So I developed a new habit this summer. Every night, I would go into my room and open up my doors. I would then get ready for bed, make sure my ceiling fan and my humidifier were on and then I would step out onto my deck and curl up into my adirondack chairs.

My theory was that if I could just get cool, then I could go back in and go to sleep comfortably. And it's cool out in NorAZ on summer nights. So it worked. I would sit out there for 15 minutes and go back in my room kind of chilly.

Problem solved.

But something else happened, too. Because my life is crazy. And I feel like I go, go, go all day every day.

But every night I had 15 minutes to sit out under the stars. Sometimes I would read articles on my iPhone news apps. Sometimes I would listen to music. But most of the time I would just sit quietly. And look at the ridiculously beautiful stars. And think about nothing.

It's pretty cold at night now, but I still go out there anyway. Because it turns out I need that time to just sit and be still. To shiver in the cold and realize that the world is bigger than me and my busy-ness. To be quiet. To look at the stars.

NorAZ doesn't have air conditioning. And it turns out that's really good for me.

Song of the Day: The Show by Lenka, performed by 12-year-old Kerris Dorsey