I washed clothes yesterday, which is where I got the idea for this post. I wash every eight to ten days. When I had children at home it was far more frequently, but it is just me now so it takes longer to accumulate enough for two to three small loads.

At any rate, it is January. Every load is a strange assortment of heavier winter and lighter summer clothes. Sweat pants and fleece tops are in the same load as shorts and sleeveless tops. All were worn within days of each other. On the hook behind my bathroom door are two nightgowns: a long flannel for the cooler nights and a short sleeved summery nightshirt for the warmer ones.

I have a heat pump, and at least once a week I have to switch from Heat to A/C and/or back again. I would prefer to shut it off entirely and just keep some windows open most of the time, but the humidity here makes that impracticable. Furniture and fabrics absorb the moisture and are subject to mold. Mold is such a problem here. We have to pressure wash the exteriors of our houses, roofs, fences and decks every few years to remove the build up of mold. If it gets inside the interior walls it can spread like wild fire and make a "sick house". Breathing the mold spores can make the occupants extremely ill, and it can sometimes cost more than the house it worth to remove the mold. (That is what happened to my friend, Shelly's house. She was treated for pneumonia repeatedly over a two or three year period before she discovered the cause was mold behind the walls.) At any rate, that is why I cannot enjoy the simple pleasure of fresh air in my house and have to keep the heat pump on year-round.

This is winter in Florida- days in the eighties followed by ones in the forties. Closer to the end of the month it will get cold and stay cold for four to six weeks. Forty degrees may not sound like very cold to most of you, but consider our humidity. Try holding your hand in forty degree water for more than a few minutes!