Cool.

[blackstone]

I grew up without air conditioning. In central Massachusetts we didn’t really need it for most of the summer. Oh, I thought we did-melting away in the 83-and-breezy, slightly humid summer. Nighttime box fan hum, tuning into college radio, Buzzcocks and The Smiths. Mission of Burma. Staying up way too late trying to work out how to become as cool as the music while living out in the trees. Wilting in the “heat” of 72 degrees at midnight and waking up under a blanket.

Now that I’m almost middle-aged and almost-a-Southerner, I want to go back to those pristine New England summer days and really enjoy the weather. I want to go back and tell myself that I was already cool.