Lie in bed, by an open window, and listen...
“No air conditioning? How can you sleep?” a friend asks, horrified. I’ve just revealed that my family has decided to shut the air conditioner off and [1] trim our electric bill.
On this first night of our cost-cutting adventure, it’s only 85 degrees. We’re not going to suffer, but the three kids grumble anyway.
“It’s too hot to sleep,” my 13-year-old daughter moans. “I’m about to die from this heat,” her brother hollers down the hall. “Just try it tonight,” I tell them. In truth I’m too tired to argue for long. My face is sweaty, but I lie quietly listening to the cricket choirs outside that remind me of childhood.
I think about Grandma, who lived to 92 and still supervised my mom’s gardening until just a few weeks before she died. And then, I’m back there at her house in the summer heat of my childhood. I move my pillow to the foot of Grandma’s bed and angle my face toward the open window. I [2] flip the pillow, hunting for the cooler side.
Grandma sees me [3] thrashing. “If you’ll just watch for the breeze,” she says, “you’ll cool off and fall asleep.” She cranks up the Venetian blinds. I stare at the filmy white curtain, willing it to flutter. Lying still, waiting, I suddenly notice the life outside the window. The bug choruses . Neighbors, porch-sitting late, speak in hazy words with sanded edges that soothe me.
“Mom, did you hear that?” my seven-year-old blurts. “I think it was an owl family.”
　　“Probably,” I tell him. “Just keep listening...”
Without the [4] droning air conditioner, the house is oddly peaceful, and the unfiltered night noises seem close enough to touch. I hope I’m awake tonight when the first breeze sneaks in.

crank // v. 转动（曲柄）
Venetian blind 软百叶窗
filmy // adj. 朦胧的
flutter // v. 飘动
chorus // n. 合唱
hazy // adj. 模糊的
soothe // v. （使）平静
owl // n. 猫头鹰
unfiltered // adj. 未过滤的
sneak // v. 偷偷摸摸地做（事）

窗边静躺，细心聆听……
　　“不开空调？能睡得着吗？” 听说家人要为了节电而把家里的空调关掉时，我的朋友一脸惊愕。
　　在大胆尝试节电的第一天晚上，气温不过华氏85度而已。我们不觉得难受，但三个孩子却抱怨连天。
　　“太热了！怎么睡啊！”我那十三岁的女儿不停地嘀咕。“我快被熟死了，”她弟弟的牢骚也从客厅的另一头传了过来。我只好说：“今晚就试着忍一忍好吗？”其实我根本没有力气再向他们多作解释。脸上出汗了。我静静地躺着，聆听着窗外蟋蟀的合奏曲，思绪被牵回到了童年的时光。
　　这时禁不住想起了外婆，她活到92岁，直到去世前的几个星期，她一直都帮助妈妈护理着花园。回到了童年炎热的夏季，回到了外婆的小屋。我把枕头移到奶奶的床尾，脸对着窗。于是我把枕头翻过来，让比较凉的一面朝上。
　　看到我翻来覆去地睡不着，外婆说：“只要用心去感受和祈盼，风会来的，这样你就可以一身清凉地进入梦乡了。”她把百叶窗拉了起来，于是我便一直注视着朦胧的白窗帘，等待它的飘动。静静地躺着，期盼着，这时我忽然感到了窗外世界的生命。小虫的轻唱，门廊外坐着闲聊的邻居，他们模糊不清的喋喋细语开始催我入眠。
　　“妈妈，你听到了吗？”我那七岁的孩子嚷嚷了起来，“我觉得那是猫头鹰一家子在叫！”
　　“很有可能，再仔细听……”
没有了空调机的嗡嗡响，房间里飘溢着一种奇异的祥和气氛，还有未经过滤的，亲近得伸手就可以触摸到的夜声。真的希望，当第一缕清风悄然而至时，我还能够醒着迎接她的到来。

增值英语

1.trim的本意是“修剪、整理”，如果你种了一棵小树，就要经常地 “trim dead branches off a tree”，“修剪树上的枯枝”；此处的trim当然是和“修剪”无关，而是表示“减少、压缩”，比如说“I’ve trimmed my composition from 1000 words to 500”, 这就是说“我把作文从1000字压缩到500字”。

2. 此处的flip向我们描述了“翻转” 的动作，如果你看见弟弟在煎鱼，一面已经要“糊”了，而另一面还没熟，就要赶紧吩咐他：“Flip the fish on its back!”（把鱼翻个身）；另外我们经常会用投掷硬币的方式，来决定什么事情，flip就可以表达“投掷、轻抛”的概念，比如说“Let’s flip a coin to see who goes first” (用投硬币的方式决定谁先去)。

3.thrash：辗转反侧、睡不着觉的滋味很让人难受，thrash就是用来形容这种滋味的，如果你心里惦记着心爱的姑娘是否会在第二天答应你的求婚，就可能 “spent most of the night just thrashing around” (大半夜躺在床上辗转反侧)，不过这种滋味是人人都有过啊！

4.此处的drone表示“（空调）嗡翁声”，当然“嗡嗡声”不仅来自“空调”，我们还经常可以听到“Bees are droning among the flowers”(蜜蜂在花丛中嗡嗡叫)，“A plane droned overhead”(飞机在头顶上嗡嗡飞过)。