closed windows

When I started school around 1960, there was no air conditioning at school. Ceiling fans, sometimes portable electric fans, and open windows were available, and water  (drinking) fountains to help keep cool. By 1970, a large part of the school I attended had been modified with air conditioning units.

This was most very welcome. The classrooms were more comfortable and quiet, and our uniforms didn't stay damp with sweat. We lost something, too. I recall hearing the twitter of birds, and smelling fresh mown grass during the end of each school year as summer approached in previous years. This was less evident as we kept our windows shut. We had once been more in tune with the climate, the weather and life outside our man-made buildings. We now in a physical way shut ourselves off from the world around us, and became more and more focused on our world indoors.