Are You Glowing Yet?
July 19th, 2010. Filed under: Monday's Musings.I don’t know about where you live, but it’s hot and muggy down here. I’m sweating perspiring glowing up a storm here. Women glow or glisten. We aren’t supposed to sweat. That offends the Southern woman’s sensibility.
I don’t care. If I go outside for 15 minutes, I come in needing a shower and change of clothes. Now that’s a real glow!
There are many ways to beat the heat and quit glowing quite so much. Here are some of them.
- Line your curtains and drapes with white. It deflects the heat. You can buy liners separately if you aren’t handy with a sewing machine.
- Now close those suckers to block the sun.
- Replace your A/C filter monthly.
- If you have a fireplace, be sure the damper is closed.
- Keep a spray bottle of water in the fridge. Spritz yourself. As the water evaporates, you will cool down.
- Turn on your ceiling fan when you’re in the room. Off when you’re not. Be sure it’s rotating the right direction. No, I don’t have a clue as to which way it’s supposed to rotate in the summer. Turn it on and stand under it. If you don’t feel a breeze, it’s turning the wrong direction.
- When you shower, use the vent fan. If you turn down the hot water and take a tepid, Jamaican style shower you can save the electricity needed to run the fan and heat the water.
- Use a table top computer or put your laptop on a table. That sucker makes for a hot lap. Do you really want to sweat glow all over your computer?
- Run your dishwasher later in the evening/night when it’s cooler.
- Wear clothes made of Coolmax or some of that other stuff that wicks the moisture away from you.
- Forget the slacks, capris and even shorts. Loose, billowy dresses are cooler since they allow the breeze under them.
- Wear diabetic socks. They wick the moisture. When you finish being productive for the day, change to sandals or flip flops.
- Drink lots to replace the moisture lost and prevent dehydration. Forget the cocktails, mommy medicine and sodas. Drink water, iced tea, lemonade, etc.
- Eat light. Salads and fruits help keep you hydrated and not feeling sluggish.
- Take a vacation from the stove. Use the microwave, slow cooker and outside grill – even George’s grill. Of course, some of us are already on semi-permanent vacation from the stove already.
- Make desserts that require the freezer and not the oven.
- Hang it all. Put your dryer on vacation.
- Make/buy a cool tie or just fill a cotton sock with rice, tie it shut and freeze it for a couple hours for a nice cold compress.
- Go jump into the lake or pool. If you don’t have one, soak in a nice cool tub of water. I learned while working on ships in dry dock (no A/C for a couple weeks) that the tub soak works much better than a cold shower.
- Best of all, take a good book, a nice tall glass of something cold, ditch the shoes, and lounge out on the beach under the palms and enjoy the breeze coming in off the water. Just looking at the waves makes me forget that glowing business.
