I grew up in the same neighborhood where we now live. We moved here when I was four, lived away for a few years, and eventually built a house across the street from my parent's house. When you live as an adult in the town of your youth, you end up going to many of the same buildings you visited as a child.
Unless, of course, those buildings no longer exist.
But one building I frequented years ago still does.
The Farmington Rock Church.
Today was Sunday and I attended services. Because it's summer, the a/c units are fully cranked. And, occasionally, not every square inch inside is a comfortable77ยบ. For the past several weeks, as I've sat in our unofficial/official seats, I've forgotten to bring along my iPhone/iPad fan. Today I remembered and the thing worked beautifully.
As the cool wind offered much needed comfort I remembered how things used to be, back before there was no a/c in the building, back when all we had were paper fans.
Of course, not all the fans were paper. Many of the parishioners brought elaborate fans to cool them down. I remember looking out at the congregation and seeing a flock of fans moving back and forth, back and forth. For those of us who didn't own their own fans, we made the,. We took a piece of paper, usually the printed program, folded it and--Wha la! We had our own fans. Today I made one (to add a visual to this blog post...). It's the first fan I've made in at least three decades. And I used it in the same meeting house that once had no air-conditioning at all.
The technological advancements that have taken place since then are astounding. I know a/c was around long before I sat on those wooden pews back in the 1970s, but the building didn't have it so it didn't matter it have been invented. But my little electronic fan runs on an iPhone or an iPad, and those didn't exist back then. I wonder, in the next three decades, what things will be around to make those Sunday worships more comfortable. And will I blog about it then.
Probably.
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