Day 214-And We're Back!

Day 214- And We're Back and Keeping Cool

Well, friends of competency. It turns out that my July Sabbatacal from the blog went a little longer than expected. But, I am back and I promise to really be back this time.

This being the first of August, it would be good I think to talk about keeping cool.

Its summer here in the Nation's Capital and if you ever wonder why government stops functioning in August, you have never been in DC in August.

It is so godlessly hot and sticky, you feel like your face may melt if you were to go outside. Its easy to break out in a drippy sweat, even while sitting still.

Of course, the obvious choice of keeping cool is cranking up the AC and doing absolutely nothing. But the unfortunate thing, of course, is all those air conditioners are doing their part to raise the overall temperature of the earth. And on top of that, if one too many air conditioners are on at the same time, you run the risk of a black out--much like the 20 hour black out our street had two days ago.

So, here are some cheap, easy and environmentally friendly ways to beat the heat.

1. Find places that are already cool- There are plenty of places that have the AC cranked up high. Restaurants and Theatres are obvious choices. But public libraries and museums are also a great choice, too. That way you can keep cool and support public education. Finding a shady tree in a public park is a great place to have a picnic, read and listen to your transistor radio.

2. Drink tap water- Sure, it feels really good to pull that pitcher of water from the fridge and fill a glass with ice and chug it down. But, once the cold water is inside of you, your body works hard to warm that water into body temperature. So, while your body core temperature is brought down, you body actually turns up the heat in order to bring it back to a comfortable level. Its better to just drink room temperature water. Or, drink one glass of ice water and follow that up with room temperature water.

3. Watch out on caffeine, sugar and alcohol- While an ice cold Coke, iced tea or beer may sound wonderful refreshing, you get the side effects of drinking something cold plus the physiological effects of caffeine, sugar and alcohol. The first two speed your heart up, causing your temperature to rise. And alcohol is a diuretic, causing you to loose important fluids through urine rather than cooling sweat. So much like ice water, if you drink a soda or beer, follow it up with some room temperature water.

4. Get some ice packs- When Christine worked at the LA Catholic Worker, they didn't have air conditioning at all and summer in LA can get pretty hot at night. So, they got some reusable picnic cooler ice packs from the local $.99 store. Every day, the cooler packs went in the freezer and every night they got wrapped into t-shirts and slept with. It really helps cool down those hot summer nights. On top of that, it fills the freezer. And full freezers work more efficiently and use less electricity than empty ones do.

5. Jersey Bed Sheets- Jersey bed sheets are made with soft cott0n and have a lower thread count than other bed sheets. The effect is a fabric that resembles t-shirt material. This allows for your sheets to breathe better and lets breezes cool you down. A set of Jersey sheets, an ice pack and a box fan near an open window are pretty much all you need to have a good night's sleep in the summer months.

Good luck keeping cool this summer. And we will see you on Monday.