For me, hot summer weather always brings to mind the Mississippi Delta. I well remember those hot summer days when I was growing up there in the 1940’s. Back then the modern wonder of air conditioning did not exist. The best way to keep cool was to jump in the Moorhead swimming pool, which we did every afternoon from 2 to 5 p.m. In those days our main modern wonder for staying cool was electric fans. They ran constantly in the summer in every room and office.

In our bedroom at night with the windows as wide open as we could get them and the fans running full blast, we still had a hard time going to sleep, thanks to the oppressive heat which had built up all day long. With the windows open, every outside sound could be heard. Especially the cicada bugs (sometimes called the 17 year locusts) which some nights got so loud that they too contributed to our insomnia.

To beat the heat we occasionally took a bath rag, wet it thoroughly with cold water, and applied it to our hot faces while we lay in bed.