Water, Our Liquid Asset
We look longingly at sprinklers, wanting to jump in and out of them as we did when we were kids; at swimming pools which we did cannonballs into as children gleefully and enthusiastically; at sundresses which our young bodies used to slip in and out of gracefully, and Slip ‘N’ Slides which we glided down effortlessly and smoothly long long ago.
With that in mind and water on the brain, here are some thoughts on how to use water to its utmost advantage in the heat.
Refresh your glass. Drink up. Water is cooling, and not just if you submerge yourself in it.
“On an I’m-going-to-die-without-liquid day, consider a glass of water,” says Leslie Garcia. “Spa chefs have no particular recipe for us to pass along.”
“It’s all about the balance of time,” said Ann Lane, public relations director. “The midday is a balancing mode. At 5 o’clock, the honeydew and cucumber are detoxifying; they prepare us for rest and slumber.”
“On average, about 80 percent of a person’s total fluid intake should be made by drinking beverages, and another 20 percent provided by food,” said Julie Bender, a registered and licensed dietitian for Baylor University Medical Center.
Think cool: cucumber, pineapple, watermelon.
Another tasty way to enjoy fluids is to freeze sugar-free Kool-Aid in ice-cube trays as we did when we were kids, only not sugar-free.
“Or you could just suck on them when it gets to be 105 in Texas,” said Bender.
Try low-rent misting by ducking into a grocery store’s produce department for a free cooling spray of water.
Get misty by eating on the patio by being misted, also.
Buy an Ultimate Beach Ball Sprinkler, 88 inches around which sprays water from four spray heads, a Battery-free mister which makes its model look cucumber-cool for $15 at solutionscatalog.com, and a floating lounge chair. What sets the chairs apart is that each comes with a cord that can be used to attach to other Coleman lounges.
If you have a hot tub, reduce the temp to cool and you can still enjoy it.
Add some cool water and a few drops of lavender.
