马蒂·阿通/MartiAttoun
“Noairconditioning?Howcanyousleep?”afriendasks, horrified.I'vejustrevealedthatmyfamilyhasdecidedtoshuttheairconditioneroffandtrimourelectricbill.
“Nobodyopensawindow, dayornight,”warnsanotherfriend, whosewindowshavebeenpaintedshutforadecade.“'snotsafe.”
Onthisfirstnightofourcost-cuttingadventure, it''renotgoingtosuffer, 'vegrownupin72-degreecomfort, insulatedfromtheworldoutside.
“Howdoyouopenthesewindows?”, , thenightnoiseshowloutside-andin.
“It'stoohottosleep,”my13-year-olddaughtermoans.
“I'mabouttodiefromthisheat,”herbrotherhollersdownthehall.
“Justtryittonight,”Itellthem.
IntruthI'mtootiredtoargueforlong.I'mexhaustedafterattendingGrandma'.
Myfaceissweaty, ''sbeenyearssinceI'vetakenthetimetoreallylistentothenight.
IthinkaboutGrandma, wholivedto92andstillsupervisedMom', I'', huntingforthecoolerside.
Grandmaseesmethrashing.“Ifyou'lljustwatchforthebreeze,”shesays,“you'llcooloffandfallasleep.”
, , waiting, Isuddenly, “Ajooga!Ajooga!”Neighbors, porch-sittinglate, speakinhazywordsthatsootheme.
“Keepwatchingforthebreeze,”Grandmasayssoftly, andI“uhhuh”'tdecode-perhapsatreebranchrakingtheasphaltshinglesonthestoreroofnextdoor.
Sleepy-eyednow, ……
“Mom, didyouhearthat?”myseven-year-oldblurts,“Ithinkitwasanowlfamily.”
“Probably,”Itellhim,“Justkeeplistening……”
Withoutthedroningairconditioner, thehouseisoddlypeaceful, andtheunfilterednightnoisesseemcloseenoughtotouch.
IhopeI'mawaketonightwhenthefirstbreezesneaksin.
“不开空调？你们怎么睡得着啊？”一个朋友问道，显然有些惊异。我刚刚透露，我们全家决定关掉空调，以降低电费开支。
