How to survive a hot ass Virginia summer.

Crack the front door.

Open the back door.

Create a cross breeze.

Wet rag in the freezer.

Frozen water bottles.

Funeral home fans.

Box fan.

The heat index across much of the east coast today is 102F. Brutal. It reminds me of my summertime adolescence in Richmond.  My great great aunts lived in Jackson Ward, they were born in the early 1900’s so there was no a/c to speak of.  We spent most every summer weekday at their house during the 80’s. I learned a lot at a very young age about heat tolerance and survival from the elders in my orbit then. Crack that front door and the back door to get a cross breeze, open the windows too. Most times those breezes were hard to come by with humidity so stifling you felt like you were standing in a mouth.  Outside was just as hot as inside and vice versa.  Still, there were ways to keep comfortable—there were 6 aunts in that house and not a single uncle, we were surely going to be taken good care of.  

Wet rags in freezer, plus bottles of water frozen solid used as personal coolers, stick fans from the funeral home helped you feel like you’re moving the heavy air around more efficiently, one box fan in the middle of the hallway and popsicles.  It builds character.