Cool It

Most of us of an age, live in condos and most condos have windows albeit large, only on one side of our homes. (Yes, a condo is a home but one whose ownership is the entire building, maintenance and all.) No cross drafts to be had. Now that we know air-conditioning of some kinds, emits carbon into the air which is something none of us want to do, we learn the secrets of keeping cool in hot weather. Everyone has his or her favorite solutions but mine is to go to bed late and get up early and sleep during the hot parts of the day. I have fans, four of them, one that goes back and forth and the others are placed in strategic positions to distribute air evenly around my space. I open all the windows in the morning to allow the cool air to enter my westside unit. When the sun comes over the deck, I open my umbrella and shut all of the shutters. During the early afternoon, I take a nap or what our southern friends call a siesta. Not only is it mentally refreshing, it allows my body to use little energy thus alleviating hot weather stress. The siesta also gives me extra awake time to spend during the evenings or nighttimes when I sit on the deck after the sun goes down behind the building next to me. I do any work in the mornings but none in the afternoon and I seldom go out to ply the hot concrete sidewalks. That is for mornings and late afternoons when the sun is down. Well, not "down" but you know what I mean. I dress in light, cool wear preferably cottons. I wear sandals or sneakers or go bare footed. I try not to do anything that causes the blood pressure to elevate. I banish stress from my life. We don't use our mind control often enough to heal whatever kinds of stresses we own. And we do own stress. It's a choice, even when our situations are dire. Stress and heat don't go well together and finding a way to relieve the first, helps with the second. Move slowly if at all during the hot days and if possible, find a fan to waft its breezes over you. Your body perspires to cool you off and a fan will take care of that. Do drink a lot of cool water or juices of a non-alcohol kind. I love cucumber water with celery added but you can experiment with whatever berry or veggie suits your taste buds. I am not a fan of lettuce leaves or what I call rabbit food but I do love chunky salads with cheese and nuts and fruit under a mayo that I herb or sweeten with honey or vinegar. Again experiment. Your taste buds will tell you which mix sits. Enjoy the sun, however, but briefly so that your Vitamin D is the real thing and not something you read on a label. Sooo. Whew! Warm. It's time for the nap.