We never had a/c when I was a child in Maryland, Virginia, or Maine — of course, didn’t need it in Maine but Virginia sure was hot. In that house, which my father built, there was a huge attic fan that made a tremendous difference during the day. But it was loud, too loud to run at night. Fortunately, the coolness created by the fan during the day usually hung around long enough to fall asleep! When it didn’t, I sometimes slept on one of my father’s boats. He had a business repairing, building, and selling boats. It was always cooler by the water. Again, a little girl sleeping on an unlocked boat hundreds of yards away from the house! If parents allowed that now, they’d be arrested.

Ah, but I loved sleeping on the boat — the gentle rocking, the waves lapping on the side!