Getting Some Fresh Air

 SOMEHOW OR OTHER, when the three waves of the misnamed "Spanish flu" had swept across freedom's land, killing upwards of three quarters of a million Americans, percipient people had begun to notice that being inside buildings seemed to make it worse, and being outside of them seemed to mitigate the viral spread. They were, of course, quite correct. Thus was born the great fresh air fad of 1920. Everyone rushed outside, and architects began designing buildings which could be steam heated in the middle of winter will all the windows wide open. When we Americans fad, we go whole hog, we do not mess around. The fad, like all other fads, didn't last, as we Americans are notorious for having less attention span than a goldfish, about sixteen seconds. On to other fads, like the Charleston and short skirted short haired women chain smoking cigarettes. But for a time, the big windows were wide open, and folks were outside at all hours of day or night, rain or shine. When they drank liquor, they did so illegally. In this they were wise. Staying outside, that is. The great flu epidemic faded after killing maybe one hundred million people world wide; the first flu vaccine wasn't developed until 1940. I love fresh air, and am willing to go to great lengths to get some. I am willing to stand up, walk away from the couch and comforter, and walk outside, but only during timeouts and commercials. In fact, I am somewhat paranoid about not getting enough fresh air, seeing as how I have huge lungs, and during the winter if the temperature rises above sixty, as it does with increasing frequency in our age of global warming, I open all the windows in my house, and let the air surge in. Most Americans do not seem to share my fresh air obsession, Most Americans in fact seem to avoid fresh air at all costs. I notice houses with the windows perpetually closed, the blinds perpetually drawn, and either the air conditioning or the furnace on, depending on whether it is above or below seventy two degrees outside. they make their houses cold as an arctic cap used to be in summer, and hotter than Hades in winter, directly defying nature. I do the opposite. I let my house get chilly in the winter, and warm in the summer, thus keeping my energy use to a minimum, and working with nature, rather than against it. The only drawback to that is that people tend to stop coming over to visit me, especially girlfriends.Or maybe that is a bonus..