Keeping Cool

While the Pacific Northwest is finally enjoying it's first sustained blast of summer warmth, much of the country has been enduring a heat-wave for some time now.  Temperatures well over 100 f. have appeared all over parts of the SW, SE, and all along the Eastern Seaboard.  While air-conditioners are great in this sort of heat, not everybody has them, and not everyone can afford to run them constantly.  When I was first working after college, I lived in an old house with no air-conditioning at all.  My room was at the top, right under the eaves, and you can just imagine how it sweltered on sticky summer nights.  Here are a few tips, then, on the art of keeping cool:

1.  Keep hot air out during the day by closing windows and getting heavy, dark, or even thermal curtains
2. As soon as the outside temp drops below the inside, draw curtains, open windows, and set up a fan
3. If you only have one fan, point it out, so it will suck the hot air away
4. If you have two windows and two fans, create a cross-breeze with one pointing in and one out
5. Turn off all heat sources such as electronics, appliances, and adjust pilot lights (if possible) to low
6. Speaking of appliances DO NOT COOK!  Use the microwave if you really must
7. Dry laundry on a line if you can as the dryer is a huge source of heat
8. Hand wash and dry dishes too
9. Strip!  If you're in the shade or indoors wear as little as possible (ooo the possibilities!)
10 If you're outdoors keep covered with light-colored, natural fiber clothes
11.Pretent you're in a spa and put cucumber slices over your eyes.  The astringent really helps
12. Go down in the basement (or lowest level) and lay on the slab
13 Fill a glass with ice, and blow down into it.  The air the comes back up will be deliciously chilled
14. Draw a lukewarm bath, get in, wait five minutes, drain the bath, and then run cold water
15. Ask the kids to move over, and get in their pool too!
16. Stick to water for refreshment, studies show that sugary drinks just make you thirstier in the end
17. Speaking of water: drink lots! A little lemon and/or some fresh herbs make it more appealing
18. Some people say the back of your neck is your body's thermostat.  Try an icecube or wet towel
19. Set up a plastic lawn chair under the sprinkler and enjoy the blast
20.  When all else fails, go to the movies!