It is especially hard on area contractors since most of them are doing the hottest job imagineable - replacing roofs on over half the houses in Minonk as a result of damage from the hail storm that hit here last April 10. Normally, the Minonk area is relatively windy. But when these oppressive heat waves hit the leaves hang limp on the trees allowing the humidity to penetrate your body and leave you almost breathless. Here in the country the cornfields emit a musty odor that seems like a mixture of mud and rotting vegetation.

It seems that as we get older the heat bothers us more. I know when I was a child we had similiar heat waves as now but it never seemed to bother me or prevent me from playing in a pick-up game of baseball. Back in the 50's and earlier 60's I played baseball in hot, scratchy wool uniforms and never gave it a second thought. Playing baseball was more important than worrying about how your uniform felt. I wonder how well today's prima donna baseball players would perform if they had to wear those baggy old wool uniforms that Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig had to wear.

Sometimes I wonder how we survived years ago before air conditioning became common. But then I also wonder how we survived without television. And the answer is - quite well. We are really a pampered and spoiled generation compared to previous generations.

Six years ago my computer crapped out from being over heated and since computers was my line of work I felt it prudent to install air conditioning to prevent a reoccurence. Now my house is cool during the heat waves and I seem to have more visitors in the summer than I used to. However, I must admit that a closed up air conditioned house in the summer eliminates the feeling of summer. Now I can't hear the cardinal chirp in the catalpa tree next to the house and I can't feel the soft summer breeze wafting through the open windows or hear the crickets chirping during the night. With all the doors closed the house seems darker. Basically, the sounds and smell of summer are locked out of the house and it might as well be February outside.

The heat wave we have now is nothing compared to what it was like in 1935. It reportedly got up to 108 degrees for days on end. My father told me it was so hot that he would plow corn at night behind the horses and sleep during the day since the horses would drop dead if they had to work in the daytime heat. At night people would wrap themselves in wet sheets and sleep outside or on the porch.

I remember the Princess Sweet Shop as being a haven from the heat during the summer time. Few people know that the Princess was thought to be the first building in downstate Illinois to install air conditioning. It was done primarily to help keep their ice cream frozen rather than as a convenience for the customers.

I also remember riding through Las Vegas in 1957 in Clifton Veihman's car when the temperature was 120 degrees and we kept the windows closed because the hot air blowing through the window would sear your face. And the car had no air conditioning!

So be thankful that we have recourse to the current heat wave. Years ago we were lucky. We didn't realize how bad we had it.