Ways to Beat the Heat

All my life I've lived in the South and summers can get hot! However, I've almost always had an air conditioner on inside, but this summer all that is changing. I'm determined to turn the air on ONLY when absolutely necessary (i.e. when the humidity is sustaining all mold life forms in our home). Luckily that has not happened yet, so we've only turned it on a few times when a guest was about to expire. So what are we doing to keep cool? In the end, we got so used to the warmer temperature that I ended up carrying a light sweater with me for trips to the grocery store, classroom, etc because their air conditioning felt too strong!

• Drinking lots of water, tea, and lemonade. For the first time in my life I've drank more than one glass of liquids a day. Mint tea and cholophyll water has become such a treat for me. But best of all is mixing some freshly squeezed lemons with maple syrup in water. It tastes like summer!
• Leaving the windows open at night, and shutting the windows that let the heat in during the day. One set faces a shaded area with a breeze so they usually stay open all the time.
  
• Carry a hand fan around with you. This has been one of my favorite ways! I feel so delightfully old-fashioned with one of these.
• Reusable ice cubes (the kind covered in plastic that you can freeze again and again) work great for those nights when you just cannot sleep! Damp washrags also work well.
• Small, portable fans. While we don't own one, my in-laws do and I love to use it on those hot, humid nights. I've found that as long as the wind is blowing in my face, I don't think about how hot the rest of my body is.
  

Hope some of these help you stay cool. Let me know if you use any other methods.