Last night I had several dreams and every one of them had the same theme -  cooling down. From standing under a waterfall,  to being caught in a snow storm, to being stranded on an iceberg, and shivering in an ice cave my sub-conscious mind supplied me with my deepest desire which was to be cool. So I hauled a mattress out onto the deck where my husband was already sleeping, pulled a sheet over me, and continued to dream cold dreams.

We are currently enduring a heat wave on the west coast and that has brought forward many ideas from my visitors for the best ways to beat the heat. Among my visitors there are some who are a high risk during this season including those with chronic illnesses,  young children, those who exercise vigorously, and some who are taking certain medications.

Here are the things we are doing to beat the heat:

1. Venturing into the great outdoors only in the cooler early morning and late evening hours.
2. Those who are into exercise are rising very early and are finished exercising before breakfast is served.
3. When we do venture outside during the hot part of the day we stay in the shade as much as possible.
4. We all wear sunblock and hats and we cover up by wearing light-colored, long-sleeved, light weight natural  fiber shirts over bathing suits or over shorts and tank tops.
5. Some of us ladies prefer to wear light-colored, floaty dresses made of very light weight fabrics.
6. During the hot hours my visitors choose to visit museums, libraries, shopping malls and other air-conditioned indoor places. Tonight they are going to a aquatic center.
7. We don’t have air conditioning in my home so we have placed bamboo curtains on the outisde of the south facing windows. On the inside we keep our blinds drawn and the windows just barely open.  On the shady side we have the windows wide open to create cross drafts.
8. We do have skylights that allow the heat that rises to escape and we use fans to help direct the hot air out the skylights, and to create cross breezes from the windows.  My friend showed us that a bowl or flat tray  of ice in front of a fan works just like an air conditioner.
9. The RV’s and trailers my guests are accommodated in don’t have their AC units on when parked but they are parked in very shady areas where they get the benefit of the ocean breeze.
10. Having enough fresh water in our well is always a summer concern and we are on a water conservation plan so water wasting sprinklers are out of the question.  But we have found that taking cool sponge baths,  immersing in a bathtub in tepid water,  sitting in the kids’ paddling pool, and soaking our feet in buckets of cool water helps frequently throughout the day will help cool us down.
11. In the early morning and late evening hours we head for the cold ocean water and emerge feeling refreshed and revitalized.
12. Dehydration, which can happen quickly and go unnoticed can be a serious threat, so from the moment we rise until we retire we drink lots of water, fruit juices and cold green tea to keep hydrated, rather than drinking coffee and soft drinks.
13. Large, heavy meals are more difficult to digest and foods that are high in protein such as meats  increase metabolic heat.  Consequently, we are eating 5 small and light meals rather than three cooked squares a day. We aren’t using the oven and we are doing almost all cooking outdoors on  gas barbecues. Overall, we aren’t eating much meat but we are eating lots of salads and chilled fruits.
14. We don’t run heat generating appliances during  the day but instead choose to turn on only the essential ones in the  cooler evening hours.

It’s sweltering hot and as I type this my hands are sweating. It’s time to wash them, put my feet in a  bucket of water, and relax with a cold cloth on my forehead, while I drink a glass of cold cranberry juice.  Please feel free to add to my 14 tips for keeping cool during a heat wave because we can use all the help we can get.