A friend is slowly roasting in Paris with not a beach or lake in sight. Berlin friends have managed 36 degrees by sitting in a lake. We spent the day under an umbrella with salty dips in the crystal aqua sea. We are in a heatwave. As we sit inside blessing the air-conditioning, I recalled days of my youth with just a fan. School lessons endured watching friends fall asleep in the afternoon heat and nights spent on a concrete garage floor to keep cool. Relatives arrive tomorrow and we will spend the next couple of days in the relief of the ocean with our feet in the sand, sipping cool cocktails and eating fruit. We are very grateful.
Tips to Keeping Cool
- One enterprising student says to put a bowl of ice in front of a fan to cool down the air
- The letter L comes to mind with linen, loose and light clothing
- Shut curtains in the warmer rooms to keep out the heat
- Drink lots of water but don’t forget to add a sugar & salt combination to keep up body salts
- Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun, or so the song goes – go to the beach early or late
- Use deodorant in all the areas you sweat – lower back, neck, not just arm pits
- Watch the pets and little ones, they dehydrate easily
- For those with no easy cool space, find the local mall, library or movie theatre
- Finally a cocktail – make a long spritz as alcohol dehydrates
A Cool Cosmopolitan
- 6 cl citron vodka – don’t substitute with plain vodka
- 3 cl Cointreau – a French orange liqueur
- 3 cl lime juice, freshly squeezed
- 3 cl sweetened cranberry juice – go easy as it can be too sweet
- Garnish: lime wedge
Put ice in a cocktail shaker and add the vodka, Cointreau, lime juice, and cranberry juice and shake. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with an orange twist or lime wedge. Adjust to your taste and add club soda for a spritz. Stay cool!
