Driving without Air Conditioning

Driving without the air conditioning on the other day got me to thinking. Not just having the a/c off did it—I was kind of in a thoughtful mood anyway.

With the windows down and the wind coming into the car, I smelled scents I hadn’t smelled in quite a long time. I smelled grass, freshly cut; then I caught a whiff of wood burning. There was the slightly salty scent of the sea, along with the lake’s own sweet fresh fragrance.

Then I paid attention to the sounds. I heard construction and cars, of course, but at stoplights, I heard other things. Birds sang their individual melodies. Voices from somewhat of a distance filtered through the car windows; I couldn’t determine whether the sounds came from radios, telephone conversations or the people in the car next to mine. It didn’t matter. The voices and other sounds represented the life of summer to me.

Even though people traveled through their day busily, hastily, and probably full of stress, I felt a great amount of joy at having the experience of the sounds of summer.

Some of the sounds brought me back to my childhood; others kept me in my “today.” But either way, I found a certain pleasure at experiencing the sounds and scents while driving in my car with the air conditioning off.

It felt good to appreciate the summer day in just the way it came. Listening and smelling the dry, hot, beautiful, with clear skies, plus the scents and sounds that accompany it I realized that I hadn’t listened to summer yet this year. Not really. I seemed to only dart around in one direction or another, with the windows up tightly and the air conditioner on high, plus the radio on my daughters’ favorite radio station (whether or not the girls were with me). It surely refreshed me to hear and smell something different.

Try it—drive with the windows down. It will save fuel, but it will make you aware of an environment that maybe you never knew existed.