You’d think the problem with sleeping in summer weather would be the heat and humidity. I wake up sweating several nights per summer and it’s annoying. I don’t want to touch the sheets and it’s hard to fall back asleep. Still, I think of many places that are hotter and more humid than here where people have lived for thousands of years.

Also, after a few nights of it, I find I can tolerate the heat and humidity of regular days more after such nights, even though the days are hotter and more humid than the evenings. I think my overall summer misery ends up less that that of someone who sleeps in air conditioning every summer night.

Which brings me to the most annoying thing about sleeping in summer weather here. I can tell you because it’s affecting me as I type these words. It’s the noise from all the air conditioners on my block. It’s not even hot or humid right now, but the air conditioner nearly directly across the street from my window makes loud, annoying noise. It combines with the general hum from air conditioners down the block. They aren’t loud enough to warrant calling 311, nor would I expect cops to do anything about the noise. The one across the street from me is in the window of a firehouse. I don’t see cops telling firefighters to turn down their air conditioner.

Closing my windows would make my room heat up too much.

I’m not complaining that much. Part of my point is that dealing with heat isn’t that bad. Another part is that we distance ourselves from nature and I think that distancing isn’t overall helping us.

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