CHICAGO—Letting out an excited cheer and cocking her head back whimsically toward the sky, area woman Jenna Hastings reportedly basked in the magic of summer Friday and spent the afternoon catching air-conditioner drippings in her mouth. “I don’t know what it is, but the sensation of those big drops of dirty condensation splashing on my tongue always makes me feel like a kid again,” said Hastings, who intermittently paused to twirl around on the sidewalk with her arms outstretched, beaming as her face and hair were spattered with air-conditioner runoff. “Every June, I look out my window waiting for the first drops to fall and then immediately run outside to dance beneath my AC. I know it happens every year, but seeing the concrete dotted with rusty puddles and the buildings alive with the whirring of overworked window units really does make the city feel like a summer wonderland.” At press time, Hastings and her boyfriend could be seen kissing passionately below a screeching air conditioner that was releasing a steady stream of sparks.

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