Days Inn

The wind was picking up so the smell in the stairwell was pretty strong. It was about 90 degrees near the six-lane blacktop in Ohio. Or was it a Howard Johnson? Why was it that only motel-style buildings smelled like that? Like the forced air of a wall unit was full of sponges soaked with cat piss.

I remember standing in my living room on 64th place in front of the a/c, looking inside. This happened every night for years. I didn't understand why my parents put salt just inside the vents, but I understood that it was probably what everyone did. Since my parents did what everyone did. So, I asked them what the purpose was. It was mom's bowling night. I remember dad just looked at me and said "I don't know". There was a lot of salt in there. Wavy piles that weren't moving or blowing out at me, even when the unit was going at full blast.

I figured mom was the one who did it, since she did everything. I asked her the next night, "Mom, why is there salt in the vents?" She told me that it wasn't--that it was a piece of the air conditioner. I stuck my fingers inside. If I did it now, I'd be able to reach the salt.

Quite a while--maybe even the next season--later, mom took the a/c out and popped off the vent's face and pulled out the white styrofoam-ish "salt" and washed off the dust from storage. I never stood in front of the air conditioner again.