Play It Cool When it Gets Hot

An Article By: Kimberly Aardal

When you were a kid, did your parents ever turn on the sprinkler to encourage you to get outside and play? If so, they had good reason for doing so.

Air conditioning is expensive, and children are especially vulnerable to heat and dehydration. Cooling off outside, especially with the help of cool water and a refreshing breeze, is a great way to beat the heat without breaking the bank.

Nothing Beats Cold Water

Most people stop running through the sprinkler as they grow up and become adults, probably for fear of looking silly in most cases. While this fear may be legitimate, there is no reason you should miss out on the cooling benefits of water on a hot summer day. Your body needs those benefits and will get them even if that means sweating out large amounts of its own water.

You can beat your body to the punch and avoid running through the front yard in your bathing suit—all you need is a water misting system. Systems can be bought with or without a fan, depending on your specific needs. Both coolingline.com and rapidcool.com are trustworthy places to find high-quality systems. There

is nothing quite as relaxing as rocking back and forth in a wooden rocker on your shaded porch while a fan blows cool mist on you with an occasional breeze making you feel almost chilled.

The Danger of a Hot Day

Every year in places that experience intensely hot summers, countless people suffer from dehydration and heat stroke which can be avoided by keeping yourself cool and avoiding intense exercise.

Children and the elderly are at the highest risk. If it is hot outside and you do not have air conditioning, immense heat can build up in your house during the day so make good use of a fan to pull that hot air out.

If it gets too hot inside your house, seek shaded areas outside and keep yourself hydrated. The air moves a lot more freely outside, and if you find shade, it will help you stay cool. If you do not have a shaded porch, look for trees or parks with shaded areas.

Simple water bottles with spraying nozzles make great portable misting devices, and will encourage your body to hold on to the water it has. Try to avoid beverages with caffeine, alcohol, and/or a lot of sugar.

Avoiding vigorous or tiring physical activity is just as important as finding shade and staying hydrated. Not only will hard work in the heat make you sweat more, but it will also raise your body’s temperature considerably more than it would if it was cool outside.

This can be very dangerous, and if you have to work in the heat, you should drink a lot of water, pay careful attention to your body, and stop if you feel faint or dizzy. The ideal thing to be doing when the heat is on is sitting down, whether you are reading, playing a board game, watching TV, or just chatting with friends.

If you are a person who enjoys staying fit year-round, you have two safe options: the gym and the swimming pool. The swimming pool is a great way to get outside and enjoy the hot-but-otherwise-beautiful weather.

The temperature of the water will let you get your heart pumping while keeping your body temperature at a safer level. Just remember to give yourself a proper cool-down period, or else getting out of the pool could be overwhelming for your body.

The Lazy Days . . .

But the best part of summer is undeniably the days spent relaxing in the shade with a friend or a good book, or simply your thoughts. That is why the time-tested tradition of porch-bound rocking chairs is still popular today; and there has never been a better time to take advantage of it.

About the Author

As the editor and author of EveryDayRockingChairs.com, Kimberly Aardal has written reviews of rocking chairs ranging from simple porch rockers to Dutailier chairs. When she is not relaxing in her porch rocking chair, she enjoys hiking the beautiful mountains of Colorado, where she lives with her husband Jon and their dog Ginger. Kimberly takes pride in consistently providing valuable information to the consumers in her market.

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