Open window nights

This is a topic I never expected to write about. As some of you might know, my aversion to spiders is real. So, why would I even consider sleeping with a (part-)open window if that gives them an eight-hour window for sneaking into my bedroom, protected by the darkness of the night and my closed eyes? Those were my thoughts exactly when, out of the blue, I suddenly had the urge to sleep with a partly open window a few months ago. Sure, I had slept with an open window before, when the fear of waking up as a perfectly baked cookie was greater than that of waking up to a party of spiders surveying the sight of “sleeping human and duck” in awe. The night in question, however, was not particularly hot. Well, it was a pleasantly cool night in summer that did promise a nice breeze if I were to sleep with the window open. But it was also so pleasantly cool that I knew I would probably wake up in the middle of the night because I was cold. That didn’t stop me, though. It seems that having spent more time outside this year and a newfound (blind) trust in my insect screen (that did feel like it protected me from uninvited guests a bit better this year than it had last year) were the winning combination in making me more fearless and fresh-air-craving than I had been before. I’ve even come to accept the not-so-peaceful sounds of the night, like passing cars and groups of drunken teenagers, I used to think disturbed the more natural sounds of waking birds or chirping insects. I wonder if this novel appreciation for the occasional open window night will roll over into the next few years.
Only time and spider sightings will tell! (Or the duck in one of those frantically-whispering-in-my-ear-at-night-sessions.)