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| My daughter in Oman loving the heat |
The most common health risk this time of year when working or playing outside is heat exhaustion. High humidity makes it difficult for a human body to cool itself by sweating as it usually would. So a heat index at 90 or above means your body is really struggling to deal with the heat. Ways to take care of yourself:
Avoid the hottest part of the day to exercise and do work. ( I admit to seldom following the advice.)
Drink lots of water. Staying hydrated is every important for avoiding heat illnesses.
Use the shade if you must be outside.
If you or another feel nauseous, faint, immediately try to cool off with wet cloths, a cool shower and by drinking lots of cold liquid( without caffeine or alcohol)
Confusion or someone who doesn't c respond to efforts to cool down means a medical emergency.
If you or another stops sweating, this is another sign of an emergency.
More details at WebMD
I'm also turning the heat up in my current WIP. Raising the stakes so my protagonists have to face their fears and figure out what it is they really want. I heard a really good speaker at a conference where the subject was theme and premise. We did a couple of exercises that helped us narrow out them to just a few words. My theme for most of my space opera romances if that 'humans want to live free.' Humanity will rise against oppression. Eventually.
Do you know the central theme of your novel? Do you like the heat or hate it? Have you ever suffered or come close to heat exhaustion or helped someone who has?
32 comments:
Jogging outside when it's really hot and humid is not good for your body. Neither is doing it when it's really cold outside, as your lungs can't heat the air fast enough.
We're under a heat advisory today, so I plan to just hide inside.
I live in the south so heat is with us 9 months out of the year. I sometimes shower 3x a day when I work outside.
We went to three softball games in three days this weekend (NY). I feel wrung-out and I didn't even play!
Take it easy!
Heather
I don't like the heat. Can't even step outside now without needing a shower afterwards.
This is why I just don't go outside - too hot. Plus, that pale, milky glow I give off really helps illuminate the darkness.
It is really hot here in Florida. I don't like the heat or summertime, so I mostly stay indoors. lol
I like the heat more than the cold, but all the sweating it makes me do, blah.
Wonderful to read, here though sunny not very warm yet.
Yvonne.
I quite like the heat in small doses so long as I have some water to plunge into. But working or general living, nope, you can keep it. Give me a good ol' air conditioned room. We haven't reached very high temps yet although today is hot enough for the a/c.
I like the heat as long as it doesn't get much higher than about 90 degrees if I need to be outside. I think as long as a person takes care of themselves and hydrates, doing physical activity in the extreme heat can be okay, as long as they are somewhat used to it.
betty
Turned out to be pretty nice out today and only in the mid 80s. More storms on the way tonight.
That's why I love my swimming pool, Maria. It's a great way to cool off and then go back to work.
I don't miss long weekends of sitting at baseball tournaments.
Your neck of the woods is a bit hotter than mine, Alex.
I use a lot of sun block but I've lost the milky look.
I know lots of people do in the south but I hate being trapped inside for long.
You know I complain about cold all the time, Pat, but I seldom complain about heat. Like you, I'll take it any day over the chills.
For me, heat is mid-80s and when it hits 90 I want shade, pool/lake water, and lots of drinking water. I got heat exhaustion once when I was working as a boat washer (about as glorious as it sounds, scrubbing power yachts for a yacht sales company - and no, I never want to own one). It took two people to convince me to drink 24 oz of water and lay down, and then drink another 24 oz. I nearly fainted - not fun. However, after that, I drank more water on the job.
Heat/Tension in a story is awesome - especially with a great theme and premise. My themes have a tendency have to do with faith/friendship/hope conquering darkness/evil/despair. My current WIP theme: friendship/alliances are required for defeating darkness (a little long, I know).
I do have a pool, Jo, and that helps me enjoy the heat.
I am pretty acclimated to the heat. I spend a lot of time in it.
That sounded dangerous, Tryean. Once you get heat exhaustion I believe you're more prone to it.
I'm horrible with heat. I've hit the almost fainting moment too many times for my comfort. And yes, it's the humidity that makes it bad for me. Enjoy the summer. I'll be doing all I can to stay cool! :)
Not a fan of the heat! I get sunstroke so easily & pass out - not fun! Great advice :)
I'm trying to up the heat in my stories too :)
I am putting trees into the ground. This time of the year they are cheap. Not too many suckers like me willing to water constantly. However, the payoff is great, blueberries, figs, pears and apples. The wildlife will have a field day in my front pastures. I've already got deer checking on the apples. There is enough for them and us.
Ugh, I hate this weather. I don't know how you can love the heat! :) I guess your daughter is well-equipped to handle Oman, though.
I should turn up the heat some more in my current WIP...
I'm perpetually not drinking enough, but it never affected me much until I came to Japan. I suffered heat exhaustion twice here, and rehydrating is really hard... so I've gotten better about it! As far as my WIP, yeah, I have themes for it, I just need more than the theme to get motivated. ;)
I don't like hot weather at all. We're getting ready to leave on our trip back east on Saturday and I've been looking at the high temps where we're going. I'm not too thrilled about that weather, especially the high humidity. But I'm anxious to see my family members.
Arlee Bird
A to Z Challenge Co-host
Tossing It Out
Be careful, crazy lady! running in the heat, holy crow! I'm not a fan of high heat. I've been staying inside, but part of that is because I'm sick.
This is cute. I like your comparisons!
I live in Florida. We know heat.
It is so hard for me to turn up the heat on my characters. When they hurt, I hurt, BUT I need to do it. That will be one of the things I look for on my next read through. Are they suffering enough????
Great advice. It's been hot here in north central KY, too. Wishing you well with the WIP. Thanks so much for stopping by my blog for Alex's post. Have a good week!
It's Wednesday afternoon here and we're cold. Been cold. So odd, even for my area. But for sleeping, it's heavenly.
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