Keeping Your Cool – When There’s No Air Conditioning.

It was a record breaking 114 degrees in West Texas, and as luck would have it, our air conditioner broke! Pregnant, and living paycheck to paycheck, I had to find ways to cool down and QUICK!

What I remember the most about that time is how my family managed to stay comfortable at night. With the fan blowing on high, we’d cover ourselves in our beds with wet bath towels. Unbelievably, we’d wake up cold.

Fast forward 10 years later, and my family is handling another heatwave, this time in central Texas. With more than three months in a row of nonstop 100 degree weather, we were sapped of energy. I call that period in time, “the year I didn’t garden.”

[amazon asin=B007GB3WGK&template=*lrc ad (left)]It was the year I also took a good look around me and realized that I did NOT want to be caught unprepared during a heatwave with no power.

We naturally have an air conditioner, and plenty of fans, but I wanted to make sure my family would be able to keep our cool, even if we didn’t have electricity.

Lessons from the Past

While volunteering at Pioneer Farms on sweltering days my family would get asked lots of questions.

“Aren’t you hot in that long dress?” People would ask as they stood around in their tee shirts and shorts.

“How do you stay cool when there’s no air conditioner?” Another asked.

“Where do you get ice?” A child piped.[amazon asin=B002V8C3W2&template=*lrc ad (right)]

Those were the types of questions I enjoyed answering the most, as I wasn’t just repeating what our ancestors did, I was actually living through the experience!

I explained that believe it or not, the long cotton dress I wore, actually kept me more comfortable and cool, than if I were wearing shorts. Not to mention, the full skirt and sleeves protected me from sunburn, and bug bites.

Light and loose flowing clothes, in natural fibers like cotton, or linen, will actually draw moisture from the skin, evaporate, and cool a person down.

During extreme hot weather, we’d water the garden, and save the hard work for early in the mornings or late evenings when things cooled down.  We also made sure to check on the animals to see if they had plenty of shade and [amazon asin=B00JHKSN5I&template=*lrc ad (left)]water.

Cold Beverages versus Room Temp

As for ice, there was no refrigeration. A respite from hot weather would be to walk inside the underground root cellar where temperatures could be 40 degrees or cooler than what is outside. This is where food was stored and preserved. Kept in darkness, the root cellar felt like a cave year round.

At first, I couldn’t imagine drinking room temperature water when my family first started volunteering. I had thought that in order to “cool down” my beverage needed to be cold. I have since learned that staying hydrated with lukewarm water is actually preferable. Not that I don’t enjoy a nice glass of ice cold tea on a hot sizzling day, but it is nice to know that we can survive without ice!

I also find it interesting that some studies have shown that athletes that drink cold water show a decrease in performance in comparison to those who consume room temperature.

Years ago, homes were built with no artificial air conditioning. Back then, people gravitated to their front porch to stay cool, or to enjoy the breezeway. Called a dogtrot, there would be two cabins built side by side, and the connecting hallway between would pull in the air currents, causing a cooler breeze.

Today, as I look at homes, I wonder about the lack of front porches and how families would stay cool during a heatwave with no air conditioning.

Read the rest of the article

[amazon asin=B000A6V8FU&template=*lrc ad (left)]

[amazon asin=B000JKN4X6&template=*lrc ad (left)]

[amazon asin=B000NJG8B8&template=*lrc ad (left)]

[amazon asin=B002N0PY8S&template=*lrc ad (left)]