The first day without air conditioning

There are many cues that indicate autumn is on the way. In Japan, many people judge the seasons by the flowers. For example, begonia in bloom (which they are now) is a sign that autumn is on the way. For others, they look to the skies. My husband noted last week that, although there are still summer clouds, there has been an increase in autumn clouds too. For me, I judge by the air conditioning!

Temperatures in themselves are not a good indicator, in my humble opinion, as humidity plays a large part in the 'real feel' of heat in Japan. So instead, I go by the air conditioning! I only really feel Autumn is coming when I don't need to have the air conditioning on. And today is the first day since around mid July that I haven't had to turn the air conditioning on, although the temperature is around 26 degrees. Last week there were a few days of 'only' 26 degrees, but it was very muggy. It is not humid today and its raining so despite being 26 degrees it doesn't feel hot at all. In fact, in the early hours of the day it was borderline cold! 

As much as I need a break from the heat, so does the air conditioning units! And so does my bank account! Running the air conditioning 24-7 for weeks in a row really runs up the electricity bill. We are not finished with it yet. I have no doubt we will need to turn it on again this week. Maybe even tomorrow. But I love when this period comes around again - when you finally don't have to run the air conditioning non stop and you get intermittent breaks from the heat. 

Have you the aircon (air conditioning) on today!?