Chilling out on Lake George, NY

As a snow day kind of gal, I can languish a bit in summer.  Wilt, actually.  When I lived in Atlanta I thought the whole town should just shut down for the entire month of August and everyone should lie down naked in the air conditioning and not move until the end of the month.  This seemed like a reasonable response to the heat.

Though I almost never think of a snowy day as “frightful,” the same cannot be said for sweaty sweltering summer days.  So when the RevGalBlogPals web ring posts an enticing group blog prompt in celebration of cooling off, well, I’m all in!

Today’s Friday Five:  Tell us how you beat the heat with your favorite…

1.  Cool treat.  Homemade lemonade, on the tart side.  Lemons, water, sugar, and ice.  It doesn’t get much simpler or better than this.  I’m not even much of a lemonade drinker, but when I squeeze it myself and the whole kitchen has that lemon-spritzed smell, and I pour it from a beautiful pottery pitcher…well.

2.  Cool drink.  Frozen margaritas in a salted glass, partaken of on a porch.  With my feet up.

3.  Cooling-off place.  The neighborhood pool.  The past couple of summers I’m remembering how much I love to swim and it’s great exercise without sweating.  Plus, it’s quite entertaining to listen to the neighborhood kids playing, saying things like, “You be the Barbie shark.”

4.  Cool clothes.  First, the bra must come off immediately upon returning home.  After that, anything feels cooler.  I love tank tops, baggy summer cotton pajama pants, and bare feet.

5.  Best alternative to air-conditioning.  My time warp answer:  Piling into the back of my grandfather’s truck right after dinner but before sunset and riding the back roads with my hair whipping my face.  I felt grown up and safely cared for all at the same time.  It was too noisy to talk so I had my thoughts to myself as the world sped past.  We’d come home to darker skies, cooler air, and a yard full of lightening bugs.