By the end of yesterday, I felt so awful and everything hurt so much, I thought I wasn’t going to be able to swim today. But I woke up this morning feeling SO much better and was able to hit the pool strong again…simply because I finally got a good night’s rest. It’s gotten really cold in SF at night (by my South American-come-California girl standards – which I know, I know, are wimpy) and I have not been able to keep warm enough to fall asleep and stay asleep for the past week.
It’s because I would not turn on the heater. I feel like because we’re in California, we shouldn’t have to use any energy on temperature control, and instead should just make our bodies adjust and dress appropriately. But I finally broke down last night and turned on the heater because I knew I needed to get some shut eye.
With that same sentiment, about 6 years ago when I was living in Sacramento, my brother and I decided that we would go the entire summer without turning on the air-conditioner even once. That turned out to be the summer that it was over 100 degrees for more than 13 days in a row – getting up to 114 on some days. We’d both get home from work, strip down to our bathing suits, and then immediately jump into the icy cold river behind my house. We’d then stay in our bathing suits until midnight when we’d go to sleep on top of a blanket-less bed with the fan blowing directly on our bodies. I think Paul (my brother) actually slept on the floor because it was cooler. There were strict rules to keep the house from overheating, such as never using the oven (we barbecued outside every day instead), no hot showers, and closing the curtains during the time of the day that the sun was shining directly into them.
Paul (my brother) and I
It sounds miserable, but it was actually fun and I feel like I really did my part for the environment that summer. It also got us to swim in the river more often, which was a total blast. Now I’m trying to carry that on here in San Francisco, but I think my body deals with extreme heat much better than [my version] of extreme cold.
Paul coming out of the icy cold river in Sacramento