We grew up in hot, humid Chicago before air conditioning. After dinner, neighbors would go outside and sit on the stoop--the men in sleeveless undershirts with a Pabst in hand and the women in cotton dresses. I don't ever remember any of the neighbors wearing shorts.

To keep cool, the kids would run through the sprinklers, and, on special occasions, a neighbor would turn on the fire hydrant. One evening, my uncle Andy joined us in the fire hydrant water dance while the neighbors shouted encouragement. His wife, Marie, was the loudest cheerleader of all. Andy was a fun guy.

During those hot July and August nights, some folks slept in the park, although we never did. Years later, during one of our visits to Chicago, a cabbie reminisced about how his family would sleep in the park. But he cautioned that you couldn't do it now, because there's too much violence in his old neighborhood. He had moved to the burbs but still misses those sleep-outs in the park.

One summer while I was in high school, I got a job at the Crane Co. office downtown. Since it was not air-conditioned, every window in the place was open. We couldn't decide whether that allowed the hot air in or out. The hot-air-out gang usually won the argument, but there was no metric to prove their theory. Those were days when you could actually open an office window.

After work, you rode a streetcar or bus home. Indeed, the windows opened, so it wasn't too bad--unless you were sitting next to a construction worker who had been sweating all day, had stopped for a half dozen brews after work, had eaten garlic for lunch and was now using your shoulder as a pillow as he dozed off.

Today, we are experiencing a heat wave in Northern California, and it's been the talk of the town square. We've been spoiled by air-conditioned cars, homes and offices. This season, however, there's a power crisis, and to avoid rolling blackouts, companies have had to cut back or shut off the air conditioning. Our daughter called to say her office was unbearable. So I suggested opening a window and letting the hot air out. Unfortunately, that would require throwing a brick through it. Progress indeed.