A few years back, I drove from Nashville to Bloomington, Indiana, taking not the interstate, but a highway. It was October. It was still hot outside, and the air conditioner in my car was out of order. So I drove with the windows down.
I crossed the state line into Kentucky in the early evening. The highway took me through small town squares, farm fields and scenic mountain heights. I saw a stunning sunset over a mountain valley. I saw people gathering at the end of the day for dinner, or a town square event. I saw stretches of mature green crops begging to be harvested. But what made the biggest impact on my senses were the smells. I smelled barbecue cooking, chicken frying, charcoal burning. I smelled honeysuckle as if I were driving through a cloud of it. The scent of ripe crops, damp peat, fresh cut grass and an endless parade of other, unidentifiable smells made my drive one of the most delightful, memorable road trips I've ever made. I'm only sorry I was by myself and had no one with whom to share it.
The sights I would have seen anyway if the windows had been rolled up. But the smells made me realize how much I was missing in life because of air conditioning. If my air conditioner was working, I would have been more comfortable and kept the windows rolled up, and would have never had any idea what I was missing.
Here is an interesting opinion piece from the Los Angeles Times/Knoxville Sentinel that touts the same idea, as well as some pretty bold ideas for change.
What might you be missing out on in favor of the comfort of air conditioning?
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