As we reviewed the 120 days of possible good weather in Wisconsin, one thing stands out. The season was sweltering. As I post this, we've had over twenty days where the temperature exceeded 90 degrees. The average is seven. While this is a startling number, let's take some solace in the fact that it's one thing for which we can't blame COVID.
Another fact, Milwaukee had over thirty inches of perception in 2020. We are now at a little over ten inches. It will take a lot of rain or snow between now and New Year to match last year's production.
I'm already pulling back on my modular air cooling system. Adding the various parts to it begins in the spring. The first thing I do is open my bathroom window. The window faces north. It's on the second floor of my building and is mere feet from the building next door. Because of this, I get a breeze through the window almost every day regardless of the wind direction. The wind wraps around the buildings and flows into my apartment.
The next step is to put my dual-blade vent fan in one of my west-facing windows. I set the fan to pull the air out of my apartment. Rarely is the wind strong enough to push the air back into my apartment. I've never had a problem with rain coming through either of these windows, and again I credit the closeness of the buildings.
Step three is my three-speed overhead fan n the ceiling of my place. Depending on the temperature of the apartment, I set the fan to what I feel it needs.
Last, I have one of those tabletop air circulators that are based on the Swamp Cooler process. This is done by circulating air over a water bath. And blowing into the room.
This system made my apartment comfortable through this summer. Yes, there were nights when I slept n top of the sheets in my undershorts. And days when I went shirtless for the entire day. I tried to be smart about using my stove for cooking. I took my walk earlier in the day.
Right now, with the highs in the mid-seventies and the lows in the high sixties, the mini swamp cooler is off, the bathroom window is closed at night, the overhead fan is on low, and the widow fan is on its slowest speed.
Respect
My dear friend and telephone wife (She proposed. I accepted.), Michelle Mooney, accompanied me on my first trip to the Downer Theater in better than two years to see the docudrama Respect. This film is based on the life of Aretha Franklin, correctly dubbed as The Mother of Soul.
I had some problems watching this film. We now recognize this era for the talented women being victimized by troubled men like Marilyn Monroe, Tina Turner, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and many more. It was painful to watch as a man who had to learn so much of what I thought about women, what they needed, and deserved.
The other trigger was listening to Aretha's iconic songs being wonderfully recreated by the talented Jennifer Hudson. Her music was always in our house. My father's face brightened, and his toes started taping time whenever he heard her music.
"Listen! It's Retha. " He'd proclaim as he danced in his chair or the front seat of the car. My Father hid his demons very well, but her music brought out the best of him.
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