Keeping My Cool
This is a line from one of the greatest American novels - Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. In a previous post, I bragged about how wonderful the southland could be in the springtime. I still think springtime is wonderful here, but now we have decidedly moved into summer (I know officially it's the 21st of June). Somewhere a few weeks ago our days turned sharply from 70 and 80 degree weather to the mid and upper 90's. Along with escalating temperatures, we also have the added bonus of humidity. I know humidity gets a bad rep, but it really deserves it in my opinion. I can recall days growing up when the humidity was 99%, and it wasn't raining!
Keeping cool is something of an art form here. Guys wear t-shirts under dress shirts to keep from soaking through. Some girls go sleeveless, while others wear skirts to repel the oppressive heat,and everybody seems to keep a spare deodorant close by, just in case. There are other tricks like always having something on hand to fan yourself with is a good idea. I sometimes rinse my feet in cold water before going to bed.
Over the years, I have developed the habit of showering every other day for the most part. I do this for several reasons: to save water (important when I lived in drought stricken Colorado), to save time (I loathe how much longer it takes to get ready to go when a shower is involved), and to keep the natural, essential oils and such in some kind of balance. I do like to be clean; don't get me wrong about that. In spite of my developed habit and my logical (at least to me) reasons for this schedule, the heat and humidity sometime prove to be too much for me. In the summer, most days are, sadly, shower days. So, in my attempt to foil the oppressive heat I have developed a Southland Shower System or (SSS).
Since I don't want to fall into the habit of taking two showers or baths a day (as apparently Harper Lee's genteel southern ladies had done), I now am deliberate about the summer shower process. The trick is to start the shower with warm water (the better to get really clean with) and then gradually turn the knob to cold. As the skin adjusts, the colder it can get. The cold water not only performs the function of cooling the skin, but has the added bonus of closing the pores so that profuse sweating can be avoided. I never thought I was working out very hard when I lived in Colorado because I never sweated, but now I realize that I was working out just fine, it's just that in CO sweat simply evaporates. Here in the south the water has no where to go, as the air is already full up!
Any other suggestions for keeping cool would be welcome. PS -The last several days have been cooler, rainy ones due to the first named tropical storm of the season - Alberto - but never fear we are on our way back to the upper 90's.
posted by maslyn | 10:03 PM
2 Comments:
I, too, grew up in the south - Aiken. My mom (from the North, go figure!) used to tell me that I'd get used to the weather. "It's not the heat, it's the humidity", she used to always say. I used to always say, "I don't care!" I'm hot!! This while riding in an un-airconditioned car with vinyl seats that I had to peel myself off of at the end of the trip! Ugh! And summers were spent at the local swimming pool, almost all day, or sitting while at home, literally directly in front of the downstairs air conditioning window unit. Nighttimes upstairs (without ac) were spent with a fan aimed directly at me. Now we have air conditioning in the entire house (Which they got when I was in college.) I highly recommend air conditioning for everyone in the south in the summer! Actually I've been driving around for the last few weeks, barely using my ac, but I usually will use it when it's sunny and hot. (After one summer without ac in my car a few years ago, I discovered that the sunshine makes a HUGE difference in the amount of discomfort.)
Air conditioning is great. I don't care what some people say. Granted, sometimes you get chilled, but overall I'd rather have it than not!
I don't think of myself as a writer, but I fear I may need to set up my own blog after this. I enjoyed your post - as always.
Did you backdate it, like Julie did? I thought I checked your blog yesterday and it wasn't there. Do I have to report it to the BBI?!?!? :)
Barbara
Barbara, don't report me to the BBI just yet. I actually started that blog earlier, but then it got cooler and I felt it wouldn't have the same effect. Blogger actually kept the date I started the blog. I think you should start your own blog - it's a little bit like therapy, but you don't have to pay anyone. Not that I'm suggesting you need therapy, but really, who doesn't?
Don't get me started on air conditioning! I, too, recognize my dependence upon the ac, but I think it is really interesting that the same people who "freeze" here in the south when temperatures dip below 65 are the ones who keep the ac at 55 and 60 degrees! Could someone please explain that to my arthritic knees?
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