How To Cool Off When It’s Hotter Than Hell
For a couple of days now, my news feeds have been full of friends complaining about how hot it is outside. Many of them live north of the Mason Dixon Line and are rarely treated to the heat-wave-type weather I live with all summer long. This post contains a round up of ways to cool off when it feels like the burning cauldron of Hell outside your door (or inside it, if you don’t have air conditioning.)
- Go to Starbucks. No, this is not an endorsement of the Man, but every one I’ve ever entered is so freaking cold that I usually leave with my teeth chattering. If you don’t have A/C and want to get out of your sweltering house or apartment for a while, there’s likely a little green station near you.
- Put ice cubes in the bath tub. Don’t get carried away and throw in so many that you freeze your naughties off. Immersing yourself in a few cubes and some lukewarm water will do the trick.
- Make a fan. In the South, many of the country churches and funeral parlors have disposable fans for visitors. You can make your own with a sturdy piece of paper and a popsicle stick. Just staple the two together and start relieving yourself immediately. (Instructions by following this link.)
- Run through a fountain. Once, I did this in London with a bunch of kids because it was hot. My purse was soaked; my shoes were squishing; and I was euphorically happy. I didn’t care what I looked like, and the spray and the laughter kept me cool for the rest of the walk.
- Replicate fountain at home with a water hose. Being sprayed by surprise is the awesomest form of cooling off, because it usually leads to a water war in the yard. The soaking is preferable to the sweating.
- Carry a handkerchief. In summer, my handkerchief is my “dew rag.” I use it to wipe away any unsightly sweat before I go into a meeting or to clean up when I come into a random place off the street. Stick an ice cube in there, and it’s Heaven.
- Wear natural fibers, and wear as little as decently possible. Cotton and linen breathe better than anything I’ve found. I wear sundresses all the time in summer, and I just don’t give a good one if they don’t look professional. They keep me cool, which improves my mood and makes me marginally tolerable to others around me.
- Ladies (and men if it’s your thing), dresses are cooler than pants. My husband loves “dress season,” because I almost always wear dresses when it’s hot. They make a natural breeze “down there” and circulate more air for a cooling effect.
- Keep blinds closed at home all day long. Closing blinds or pulling curtains will make things a mite gloomy, but it does block the sun’s rays that heat up a room. Things may be a tad cooler at night, making it easier to sleep, something I have a really hard time doing when I’m sweltering.
- Stand on an air vent. Marilyn Monroe made it famous. Drawers are optional.
A repost today in honor of the 100-plus degree temperatures we are experiencing in Hell, I mean, South Carolina. Much of the US is suffering right along with us. Here’s to cooling off! And, if you like it here, please subscribe in the upper right-hand corner and share with your friends.
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What a fitting post now that we are living in the dog days of summer. Just the other day we were enjoying the cool weather of Fall and now we are paying for it. I suppose it was great while it lasted. Here it is 2 am and I am wide awake. I wonder if the heat has something to do with it? I went to CVS and purchased their sleep aide so hopefully I will be dreaming of something shortly.
Melatonin works wonders for sleep also. Hope you sleep better tonight.
I went to CVS and got their sleep aid which works well for me. Crashed at 3:15 am and back up at 8:30 am for work. Yes, I hope I sleep better tonight.
Heading out to mow the yard at 7:15 am right now so I can escape the worst ot the heat. The neighbors may be loading their shotguns as I speak, no worries, I have kevlar yard gear.
Mowing that early was probably still a sweaty business. I wish I had a personal air conditioner for the baseball game tonight.
Hope it starts to cool off soon for you, Andra… I’ve seen some huge fires over there that are terrifying!
I don’t suppose you have any tips for keeping dry, have you?
Fires are far away from where we live, Tom, but very scary for those people in Colorado.
A coat with a hood is always my strategy for rainy climes, because I am forever forgetting my umbrella.
My grandmother Browne would always take us out in the yard on the hottest of days and “scoot us off”, which in our family lexicon meant that she turned the hose spray on us as we ran about in our bathing suits, laughing, jumping and occasionally slipping and sliding on the wet lawn. That we did this on the front lawn of her house never seemed to bother us. I can’t imagine doing such a thing on the front lawn of a house in Charleston’s historic district, but in Greenville, SC in the early 1960s doing so on the lawn of a cute 1920s bungalow in Greenville’s historic area seemed just right.
We used to go swimming in our ditches when it would pour a summer rain. How icky that was, now that I think back on it. Running through the water hose and sprinkler is one of my fave childhood memories, too. Love the image of your grandmother’s house.
Yes, we “swam” in the ditches too!
I’ll echo Tom: a post on umbrella tips tomorrow, please…we are positively emerald with envy over here on our glorified life-raft of an island…
Kate, if you were here, you would trade for the rain. Trust me. It is tempting to drive up to the mountains and sit on our dirt in the shade, only it is just as hot there today.
Yeah. My Mom in Ohio is only 2 degrees warmer than us in Alabama. Eye roll.
Double eye roll.
I have had so much compassion for all the heat-sufferers across the country. I feel incredibly fortunate to be where I am now. It’s in the 90′s in Northern Cal, where I was, but it’s been 72 degrees almost every day since I’ve been here in So Cal.
Hope the heat subsides soon out there. Great tips, btw!
We in SC had a mostly Spring-like June, so I am not complaining about the heat now. We are usually in the 90′s with oppressive humidity long before now.
When it’s 97 in Asheville, I shudder to think how hot it is in Charleston! You are SO right about dresses (or skirts) – that’s all I wear in the summer. I don’t understand people who wear, of all things, jeans in heat like this. Stay cool. Don’t forget about popsicles for cooling off, too.
It’s about the same here, but the heat index is 106. 97 in Asheville. Sheesh!! Stand over the vent up there today, Jill.
I thought that pic was of Edward in Twilight after being exposed to the sun!
I’m probably as pale as he is, and I don’t need the help of makeup to get that way.
A good friend’s daughter married a few years ago in August. It was THE hottest day of the year and she had an outdoor wedding, sans tent. My friend, who spent all her childhood summers with an aunt in New Orleans, anticipated this and had a much appreciated fan for all the guests.
We still were drenched.
Yeah. Fans don’t do much good when they’re circulating hot air.
Our BIG heat hasn’t hit yet! I think the one thing in Southern California that really does help is that our evenings cool off significantly. You can bear the heat if you can look forward to cooler evenings. Your coping mechanisms as listed are quite perfect…and I love the idea of a “dew rag.” I must have one handy!
Debra
Without the humidity we have, your nights actually have a chance to cool the air. Out here, all that water just hangs onto the heat of the day.
I don’t envy Lou the kevlar, but if his neighborhood is like mine, he’d definitely need it
Also, I don’t own enough dresses, as my frozen Yankee heart craves the colder six months of the year just as soon as the warm ones arrive.
Must remedy that.
Dresses do help me appreciate the heat.
Andra, what say you if you sweat pink? Seriously, my white lace bra…is now pink from the sweat coming off my head. I have ruined several workout t-shirts with pink stains around the neck and back. I took a picture of the pink sweat going down my face but then I saw my age spots and wrinkles and deleted the picture. UGH! Who knew I looked like that? Anyway, on a positive note my hair is the loveliest shade of hot pink (which is a far cry from Raggedy Ann). I’d send a picture but the silly phone cannot seem to get the color right…
It’s pretty…I love it.
I loved the picture you posted on FB of yourself in the hair chair. I’m always amazed at how my red bleeds in the week or so after I have it done, and I can imagine pink would be similar.
I bought a big cheapie nylon fan in Taiwan over a decade ago and it is still my go-to in case of heat emergency. Okay, the flowers painted on the nylon are peeling, but that thing generates a LOT of wind.
Utility trumps looks in such matters every time.