It was about 3 p.m. The air-conditioning had been off for four hours, and it was still mild inside the apartment.

I had an idea. A bit crazy, for October 23, but I thought I would give it a try.

Open the sliding glass door between the living room and the balcony … and close the screen … and see what happened!

About 30 minutes later, I realized I had to concede, in the way comedians do when they tell a joke about someone who has died — and gets no laughs.

“Too soon.”

It felt OK, outside, when I opened the glass door. Not the blast-furnace heat of June, July, August, September, certainly.

I stepped out. Turned around. It was quite warm, yes, but perhaps the sort of warm good for napping. Maybe 95?

I slid shut the screen door, and sat down, and realized, “Hey, it’s quite noisy out there.” You forget, after having a house shut for 6-7 months. People and cars and horns.

So, reading, sitting, reading … and wait! A bit of sweat on my brow. Sitting on the couch is making me a bit clammy, too.

Too soon.

After a half hour I got up, closed the glass door, turned on the AC, and I was back inside the hermetically sealed Abu Dhabi bio-dome.

Maybe we can try this “fresh air” thing again in a week. Or maybe more like a month.