No matter where you live, whether you love or loathe the heat, it’s helpful to have a few cooling-down strategies that are not dependent on air conditioning.
They can be literal lifesavers. Extreme heat can be physically dangerous, and it affects both our minds and our moods.
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, aided by a pail that I keep near my shower solely for this purpose.