The fan

The only air conditioning we had growing up was a roaring electric fan in the window with the curtains carefully tucked in so not to be caught in the blades. I remember my younger brother and I talking and laughing into it to hear the funny echoes of our voices. We would also take naps on a quilt thrown on the floor in front of the fan that not only cooled us on many summer afternoons, but the sound of it and the blowing air in my face would put me right to sleep.

I have air conditioning in my home, but on the nights when I find myself restless and unable to sleep, I plug in my fan at the foot of my bed, and minutes later the stresses of my day are fanned away and I am napping like a baby once again.

Jean Burger, Kittrell, Wake Electric