I usually don’t sweat the news about temperatures. I live on the Westside, close to the Pacific Ocean, and it hardly ever breaks 78 degrees. Until yesterday.
I took my pup, Zoey, out for a walk yesterday afternoon.I was in Westwood. I felt the heat immediately after walking out of my Uber-cool apartment. (that means temperature cool and “cool” cool.) I wished to myself, “Please Zoey, please don’t turn left to do the longer walk” She did. Shit. This route had us climbing a hill half-way back.
I secured my new blue face mask (that matched my blue sundress) and we headed along the route. Things were going well. There was a nice breeze and we were going down-hill. Zoey was doing “her thing,” (both 1 and 2.) Once we started going up-hill, that’s where the trouble started.
The sun was directly in our faces. I started to get really, really hot. I looked down at Zoey. She was slowing down, as was I, and looking at me painfully. She’s kind of a princess—a Maltese with long, white fluffy hair, always coiffed. Everyone who meets her thinks she’s the cutest thing; she has a personality to match. I taught her everything she knows. So I knew that she was in the same shape as I was.
We got to the top of the hill, and felt the cool breeze again. We made it! We both heaved a sigh of relief. By this time, my face mask was soaked in sweat, and I couldn’t breathe. I pulled it down from my face to get a couple of deep breaths. Zoey did too. She doesn’t have to wear a mask; lucky her.
We made it back to my place. There is a flight of stairs we had to climb before we could get into the house. I wanted to go fast so I could get it over with. But Zoey was stubborn; she refused to go. After a few minutes of push-pull between us, she eventually gave up and trotted up the stairs, both of us using every bit of energy we had.
Once the door opened, we were welcomed with a gush of cold air from the air conditioning that I keep a cool 72 degrees. We collapsed on the cool wood floors after drinking some water; Zoey from her bowl, mine from a bottle. We laid there for about a half hour. I got to thinking, was that walk safe? How does one (or two) cool off in a short amount of time?
I checked on line for some easy tips. Here is a list of the top ten:
- Take a cold bath or shower. It lowers your body temperature quickly.
- Hose off. If a shower is too far a way, find the nearest garden hose. I’ll remember this one for next time.
- Grab an ice pop. I had some lemon ices that Zoey and I shared. I located them deep in the corner of my freezer. Woo hoo!
- Sit in a raft in your pool. Zoey loves to play ball in the pool.
- Exercise at a cooler time. I think I’ll start with this option first.
Happy summer! Stay safe, strong and cool!
