Reading In A Heat Wave

Last week we had a heat wave: four days in a row of 40 degrees plus. Fortunately, we have an air conditioner, which we rarely use, but in weeks like this, it's essential relief. We dragged mattresses into the library and the whole family, including the dog and the rabbit, set up camp there, occasionally venturing out to watch TV under the fan in the next room or to pull some fruit and yoghurt or icypoles out of the fridge.

And I read aloud. We've been on a Little House binge these holidays, and it seemed like perfect timing to pull out The Long Winter. As we sweltered, we read about blizzards buffetting the tiny town, Pa and Laura twisting sticks of hay to feed the fire, long dark days while the winds howled, nothing to eat but brown bread from wheat ground in the coffee mill, and then not even that…

At one point, Pa laments that progress is a mixed blessing. Railways and telegraph and kerosene and coal stoves are wonderful things to have, but folks get dependent on them… just like electricity and TV and the internet and air conditioners… And even though the Ingalls family was battling temperatures of 40 degrees below zero while we were suffering 40 degrees above,* we were still there, huddled in one room, trying to make it through one day at a time, just like they were.

We finished The Long Winter yesterday. The cool change had come through, and we were thankful.

* Yes I know, they are in Farenheit and we're in celsius, but let's not quibble...