I’m clearing out old drafts in my wordpress queue. I started this one in August 2010. Having just been in VA where there was a heat index of 110 degrees for four days in a row, this still rings totally true. I think this kind of knowledge dies out within a single generation raised under a good air conditioner.

What do you do when it’s 85 degrees or higher outside?

I’d guess most people have the AC running at this point. Most of the places I’ve lived that’s been the case. Seattle has taught me an interesting thing though. What do you do when you don’t have AC? The first couple of years I mainly spent a lot of time crying about it.

The idea that I can’t live anywhere too hot without having a giant AC unit kind of bothers me. So what do you do? Well, I’m learning a lot of tricks. First off, pay some decent money and get some good fans. Then get some real thick curtains.

During the hottest part of the day, close all the windows and close all the curtains, get your house nice and dark. Hang out in the basement. A trick I learned from the Fijians: get your shit done early and late in the day, the middle of the day is to be taken slow.

Then get yourself a well insulated house, preferably with windows you can open near the ceiling of the top floor.

I didn’t know any of that, I lived my whole life in the AC. So much of what we call common sense is cultural wisdom and it can disappear so quickly.