Last night should have been just dreamy for my sweetheart and I.
It was our first night on a brand new cushy mattress.
This, after years of sleeping on some cross between a cobblestone lane and a tattered overcoat.
A brand new cushy mattress.

And then the air conditioning went out.
Out. Dead. Kerplunk.
87 degrees inside, and rising.
Our whole family, dog and cats included, wandered the halls, flushed and moaning.
I mean, I couldn’t really tell if the cats were flushed but how could they not be?

My husband stood in front of the furnace tinkering.
I aimed fans at the girls faces.
We opened windows, felt the air outside and closed them again.

How romantic.

I was busy trying to figure out the take-away message on this one (don’t get too comfortable… don’t get too dependent on the finer things in life… don’t live in a place where summer=the fires of the underworld) when it suddenly occured to me that we could go swimming! There is no rule that says one can’t swim before noon, is there? And as a matter of fact, our most beloved spring-fed swimmin’ hole is free every morning until 9:00 a.m.

So coffee and cocoa in hand, down the hill we rolled.
It took the girls exactly 3 nanoseconds to take the plunge.
Me, just a teeny bit longer.

And when we dug into the rest of our day — which included a visit to a farm just outside of town and a visit from Jeff the A/C guy (my hero) — we were still under the influence of that most magical morning swim.

Now I’m thinking that the take-away message might’ve been "step out of your rut".
Which we did, and I’m glad…

I’m also glad it’s no longer near 90 inside.

Sweet dreams…