Who would have thought it? We go away for the weekend and come home to this! Sort of creepy, but you learn something new every day.

We had headed for the coast for a few days over the Labor Day weekend, a good time to go there to escape the heat of the central valley of California. Randy was told at work he’d probably see half of Bakersfield in Morro Bay, since so many do the same escape routine! The coast being only 2 ½ hours away and 30 degrees cooler than inland, it makes perfect sense in summertime.

The weather was perfect and we enjoyed connecting with friends, not Bakersfieldians after all, but Georgians (the Pacific is a long way to go to escape Georgia heat!) and a couple from Cambria, up the coast from Morro Bay. The house we rent has fantastic views of the ocean which I took in as much as possible.

Now, when we leave home we do not keep the air conditioning on in the empty house. For thousands of years people lived without it and for generations from the time of its founding, no one had it here in Bakersfield either. It is hard to believe that people actually carried on normal lives without air conditioning in this climate! What wimps we are today. Nevertheless, I am not sorry we can take advantage of it. I would be on extended siesta time otherwise. But we also try to save money where and as often as we can, so we leave the air conditioning off while we are away.

When we got back from our perfect three day get away to the cooler clime at the ocean, I opened the backdoor of our house and was hit with a blast of heat. Three days of baking in the sun had worked its work alright. But I almost stopped in my tracks when I reached my desk, for there was a sight I had never seen: a candle feeding in a bowl rose petals? What?! Wait. That can’t be right!

I believe that if candles could speak they’d say, “Please leave the air conditioning on.” But my reply would be, “Show me the money, honey.”

(I can replace the rose petals for free from all the roses in my front yard.)