No matter where you live, whether you love or loathe the heat, it’s helpful to have a few strategies for cooling down that are not dependent on air conditioning—they can be literal life-savers. Extreme heat can be physically dangerous, and it affects our minds and moods, too. I’m one of the heat loathers, but I’ve lived most of my life without central air. I now live in Southern California, where summer blackouts due to an overburdened electrical grid are a constant worry. With historic heat waves showing no signs of abating, I’ve developed a nightly ritual of dousing myself in cold water, with the aid of a pail that I keep by my shower solely for this purpose.