As a kid, I didn’t realize how uncompromising our southern climate was in reality.
When all you suppose are 100 degree summers with 100% humidity, it’s difficult to fathom anything else.
You simply become accustomed to the insanity that comes with weather like that. Granted, both of us would often get Summer showers that followed intensely sizzling afternoons, however this wasn’t much respite, particularally on afternoons where the skies were clear. My parents always had a dehumidifier of some sort running from late May to mid September every single year. My mother had horrible dust sensitivities plus asthma issues that were exacerbated by high moisture in the air. The dehumidifiers could get it down below 40% in our lake house if both of us had them running at full blast. If both of us had only used the central cooling system to control the moisture inside, after that I could only get it to 60% at best, even if both of us ran it for long periods of time. I figured that this would be a reality for me for the rest of our life. Everything changed when I moved out west to a desert region. Sometimes the humidity outdoors is below 10%, which is particularly absurd to consider when compared to our up-to-date home state. I never even had to consider owning a dehumidifier ever again after moving out here to the desert. There are times during the Wintertide where it gets so uncomfortably dry that I consider buying a humidifier to add moisture to the air. No matter how several times I tell myself I’m going to buy a single, I always decide against it. I’ll keep the dry climate, no matter how dire it can get.