My air conditioner is on the fritz, it is about ninety degrees in here, and now that it has rained, the humidity is close to one hundred percent. The air is so heavy that it feels like I am trying to breathe underwater. The lip plate slides all over my chin as I struggle to produce a steady airstream. Sweat trickles down my back. Perfect conditions for practicing!
I’ve gotten so soft! I’ve practiced and performed my way through many summers without the benefit of air conditioning. There used to be a tarnish outline on my lip plate where a postage stamp was affixed to help keep the head joint from sliding around. I developed strategies for practicing in rooms with fans. If the fan was too disruptive, I did without. I reconciled myself to the fact that anyone within a quarter mile could hear me practice through open windows, even took advantage of the situation to show off a little. Now all I can think of is how uncomfortable I am, how inconvenienced, how wimpy and whiny I am.
Of course it always took awhile to acclimate to extreme conditions. And of course I complained then, too, until I found a way to cope. Then it became a point of pride that I could function under such adversity.
In truth, I miss having the windows open in summer like I did growing up on a farm in the Midwest. I miss the fresh air, the feel of a nice breeze, the smell of rain. I miss the sound of insects and frogs at night, of birds in the morning. I feel distanced from the outside, like I’m not taking part in the progression of the seasons. Of course, I live in Florida now, “in town”, where the summers are blisteringly long and you can feel the sting of the sun’s rays on your skin like mini-laser beams if you dare go out unprotected at midday. The ‘snowbirds’, Northerners who come down here for the winters, flee before the summer can fully manifest. Farmer’s markets pack up, heat advisories become everyday events, and the daily thunderstorms roll on through. Could I survive without air conditioning? Sure. Will I let a little heat keep from practicing? Not any more than I let anything else. So I’ll experiment with the ceiling fan going, get a tall glass of ice water, maybe a towel to wipe my brow, open the windows wide, and maybe even show off a little.