My mother, who'd survived many un-air-conditioned NYC summers, used to say that someone should invent a necklace of beads that could be put in the freezer, and then worn chilled around the neck. I went to look on Amazon and sure enough, there was my mother's unfulfilled dream, selling for a mere $49.00. There were 15 enthusiastic reviews and three expressing disappointment. 
My beat-the-heat regimen consists of:
- Fans - lots of them
- Ice water
- A barely-warm bath - sit and schvitz (that's my granddaughter a few years ago, demonstrating this technique)
- Do any cooking early in the day; eat cold late
- Popsicles (OUTSHINE raspberry fruit bars, please)
When it gets really bad we go to the movies, but this year's crop of summer movies is rather pathetic. Lucy's been recommending Won't You Be My Neighbor (and in this day and age, we do need Mr. Rogers sweet neighborliness), but it's not playing anywhere near us. And no, I will not pay $15 to see the new Jurrasic Park.
How's the heat where you are, and what are your tricks and tips for keeping cool.
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: We have NO air-conditioning in my 200 year old farmhouse, a decision I may need to rethink, given that we can expect ever-more "degree days" ie, beastly hot weather, in the future. Maine traditionally has no more than 4 - 5 days a year where the temperature tops 90, and a heat wave is maybe two days in a row. Four to five days of sweltering heat and humidity really tests us, especially considering Maine has the oldest (pre-20th century) housing stock in the nation, most of which hasn't been refitted with central air.
Fortunately, timber framing and lathe-and-plaster walls are excellent at keeping the heat out. (Keeping the heat IN is another story.) My plan for keeping cool is, except for the use of electric fans, pretty 19th century.
At night, as soon as the air temperature is at or below that of the interior of the house, I open all the windows (or at least, those that open – another story.) We have window fans in all the bedrooms to suck in cooler air throughout the night. I rise at 5:30 or 6 and go around shutting all the windows, drawing the curtains against the
sun. When I know it's going to be particularly hot, I also switch the screen/storm windows – the screens go up and the storm comes down, creating an extra layer of insulation. During the day, we turn on fans in rooms where we are – right now, I'm typing this at my kitchen table, in front of a box fan at the top of the cellar stairs. It brings up the always-cool air from the subterranean cellar.Using this regime, the downstairs never gets hotter inside than 80F, and usually stays in the comfortable mid-seventies, even when it's 95 outside. By 10 or 11pm, the bedrooms are cool enough to sleep comfortably. I like to sit at the edge of the tub and soak my feet in cold water before retiring.
LUCY BURDETTE: What could I possibly add to Julia's, aka, the
prairie settler, suggestions? I'm going with the movies. Yes, John and I adored the Mr. Rogers documentary. It starts a little slowly, but stay with it. He was a remarkable man who loved children and had a deep understanding of what they needed. He also seemed to know what we need in the world today--kindness, acceptance, willingness to stand for what we know is right.We also loved RBG, the documentary about the remarkable Ruth Bader Ginsberg. I'm not usually the biggest fan of documentaries, but both of these were so excellent and inspiring--and the movie theater will be air-conditioned!
INGRID THOFT: Thankfully, I live in Seattle, where hot days are few and far between. I stay cool regardless of the temperature
outside because our high-rise building has central air. When I’m back on the east coast, which I will be in a few weeks, I find that swimming in the chilly ocean is the best way to stay cool. As long as the ocean is at least 63°, I’ll go for a dip. The bracing cold seems to lower my core temperature and provides a brief respite from the heat. RHYS BOWEN: I've just returned home from England where it was hotter than it is in California. Everyone in Cornwall looked as if they'd been holidaying on the Med.
So I'm actually feeling quite cool at home. Our summers in Northern California are rarely uncomfortable. We have a few days of 90 every year but then the fog comes in and cools everything down. We've never had an air conditioner and rarely need one. Big ceiling fan in the kitchen and bedroom do they job quite well upstairs and the rest of the bedrooms downstairs are always perfectly cool. On uncomfortably hot days I go swimming at my health club, come home wet in my suit and prepare the evening meal while still wet! DEBORAH CROMBIE: Even with air conditioning, we are struggling with the heat here in north Texas. The last few days have brought a little respite--low to mid nineties instead of one hundred plus, but the humidity has gone up as well.
So our strategies are pretty similar to those of you in the north east
with no AC! Definitely no baking anything in a hot oven in the evening--or the morning, for that matter. Lots of salads and grilling, although our gas grill gets west sun from late afternoon until sunset and that means we are eating late. Lots of fans, lots of ice water. A tepid bath before bed. And when cooking or doing any chores, I usually have a wet dish towel draped around my neck. Very fetching!
We do have an AC in the bedroom, or we'd be swooning. It's funny--our house stays very cool, even on the hottest days. And then at some point--it gives up. We go into the pool, of course. But the other night we talked about having drinks and apps outside by the pool--and we decided the only way to make that bearable would be to be IN the pool.
And want proof? Here is the thermometer from our car! See? I made it a little bigger so you could see it says 102 degrees!
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HALLIE: We know Jenn is in Nova Scotia where the weather is probably perfectly delightful. But for the rest of us... in the spirit of misery loves company, how hot is it where you are and how do you cope?
