Tips for cooling off

[chrysanthemum]

On a trip to the library yesterday afternoon my son and I listened to a segment of Science Friday on the radio.  It was focused on the athletes at the Tokyo Summer Olympics, but it had some pointers about cooling off after getting overheated.  I’m definitely getting overheated these days in my garden even just being out in the morning, so I thought it might have relevance here.  

The transcript is still being processed, but you can listen to the story now.  My biggest takeaway was that it would be useful to cool off my hands and feet after coming in from working in the garden.  My tap water is pretty warm this time of year, but I tried it out just now by putting half a try of ice cubes in a stock pot and soaking my hands first, then my feet as I drank some refrigerated water.  They also talk about the value of drinking slushies.  In our family we simply blend canned pear with ice cubes and enjoy those, though my youngest and I have also found a recipe for cucumber popsicles that we enjoy, though they aren’t to the taste of other members of the family.

Here’s a link to the NPR story:

www.sciencefriday.com/segments/tokyo-olympics-climate-covid/#segment-transcript

Here’s a link to the cucumber popsicles.  I hope I’m not repeating myself here from somewhere else.

altonbrown.com/recipes/cucumber-lime-yogurt-pops/

[macmex]

Right now I find that I need to carry a LARGE mug of cool water when I go out to weed. I stop and drink it in several "sittings" while working. Then, as I work and my body temperature seems to rise, I notice that my heart beats more rapidly (my Fitbit tells me I'm experiencing "Zone minutes") and I begin to breath more heavily. Once I have gotten a dry wash cloth pretty wet, from wiping my brow, and my water is gone, and I feel thirsty again, then I head to the house to drink and cool off where it's cooler. Usually I have to take off my tee shirt and put it in the dirty clothes pile, replacing it after I've cooled off. Then... back to the garden. This whole cycle will sometimes take only about half an hour, depending on the heat and humidity.

It's really important to drink and also, when feeling at all stressed from the heat, to get in the shade and sit down.

[heavyhitterokra]

Chrysanthemum,

Thanks, for posting this thread. I take three, 16 ounce bottles of cold water to the gareden with me. I keep a fourth in reserve for emergencies. When the third one is gone, I call it quits for the day, as by then, I know I've sweated out a quart of water and over doing it will cause me to miss the next day of work or worse. Better to cut the day short than to miss the rest of the week because of it.