About a year after my oldest daughter, Zoe, was born, Ann started developing an acute sense of hearing. She believed that her auditory perception was heightened due to becoming a new mother. Regardless, such sensitivity was wreaking havoc on her nightly routines and was a cause of great frustration.

Ann isn’t one for quiet, dark rooms. You can hear her often say, “Nothing good ever happens in darkness or silence.” I sort of find this amusing now because when we first met, I couldn’t stand going to bed without one of the many Industrial or vocal trance bands that I’ve always admired, playing in the background. Ann made it a point to ensure you could hear a pin drop in the room as soon as the lights went out and yes, my evening ritual was “sunsetted” pretty quickly.

Imagine my surprise when I first noticed Ann turning on the TV with the volume on low before her head hit the pillow! That didn’t last long as our television, in our bedroom, emitted a weird, high pitch hum. The sound drove Ann nuts. We were in our first home at this time and from the moment we moved in our ceiling fan had ever been used. The TV was shut off, the fan went on and the rest is history…

Not long after my second oldest daughter, Madison was born, I remember Ann saying this issue had gotten worse. Now she could hear our neighbors outside, two houses down, outside on their new patio laughing away. For several months Ann would get exceptionally annoyed right after we had gotten the girls down for the night. Looking back on it now, it makes a lot of sense… clearly she knew she was in for another restless night of sleep.

Georgia summers are hot. Unless you’ve lived in the south, it’s hard to explain just how uncomfortable they can be. It’s really not the heat that gets you, it’s the humidity. The air is like butter and world around you becomes absolutely stifling. I remember getting our electric bill one July back in the early 2000s and it totaled, something like, $650.00 for the month. I’d like to tell you I was shocked and appalled, but that summer was exceptionally blistering. To this day Ann and I will still agree it was money well spent!

When we moved into our second home, another smothering summer had rolled around and our air conditioner went on the fritz. Ann leaped into action, calling a repair service, strong-arming them with her ravenous charm. Unfortunately, about a thousand other families within a five mile radius had the same problem so to her surprise, we were all going to have to wait a few days to get an acceptable resolution.

Just as quick as the bad news came in, Ann grabbed her keys and took off to Target. She came back about an hour later with a couple of rotating fans. The blue bladed fans helped, but never really seemed to keep her from “perspiring.” Ann hates to sweat. If Ann even thinks the possibility of a bead of sweat would accumulate above her brow, whatever is happening is stopped until her standard room temperature of seventy-two degrees is immediately found!

With two fans acquired, but not satisfied, Ann headed back out to Target. This time she came back with a couple of box fans. Solution found! That evening, the heat in our room was soul crushing. Ann brought in one of the box fans and immediately fell asleep. I hadn’t seen her fall asleep that hard and that fast since our “dance all night” days.

The next morning, Ann gets up and is exceptionally content. She tells me she can’t put a finger on it, but she feels great. It wouldn’t be but a few hours before I get to see the light bulb go off and she realizes why…

To this day, Ann turns her white, industrial strength box fan on high before heading to bed.  I’ve replaced the fan about six times over the past ten years, whether it be one simply failing from overuse, to any one of my children “accidently” knocking it over.

So in honor of every toss and turn, I present this fan. Every time I see a fan now, I can see Ann madly fumbling around trying to mute the world around her. I can see her blatantly refusing to settle for anything less other than what she requires and most importantly, I see her, just as unconditionally as I did when I first laid eyes on her… almost eighteen years ago.

Medium: Watercolors
Size: 6 x 4 (inches)
Materials: 90lb Cold Press Paper
Frame: Mini Wooden Shadow Box with Glass (4 5/8"W x 6 5/8"T x 1.25"D)
Completed: Friday, October 10, 2014

Artist: Adam Kiger
Represented By: Park View Gallery
Artist's Website: www.adamkiger.com

Who is Ann and what is 31 flavors of love?!