(How to) Stay Cool

plus, cool news from us

Not me, but this is very much like the suit I wore.

My first job, back in high school, was working at Kings Dominion, an amusement park in Doswell, Virginia. Most teenagers where I grew up (and even my parents, when they moved to King William County in the 1970s) worked at Kings Dominion. My dad built roller coasters, and my mom sculpted park exhibits. I’m not sure how they got their jobs, but for teens in the 90s it was pretty simple. You would show up on a hiring day in early spring and interview for the positions that needed filling—running rides, working concessions, doing cleanup or ticket taking.

I got lucky on my interview day and landed a sweet job—character escort. That meant that I would hold hands with various Hanna-Barbera characters and escort them around the park, making sure they didn’t bump into things or get clonked on the head by a showoff who thought it was cool to wallop on George Jetson or Yogi Bear (no one messed with Captain Caveman). The deal with being an escort was: two character walks of thirty minutes each, then you got a half-hour break, when you could hang out and do whatever, or (if you felt like it) try to squeeze in a ride not too far from our second-story station on International Street.

Sometimes I’d sub for a character, and their deal was even sweeter—they walked for a half hour, then got a thirty-minute break. I soon realized that if I became a character instead, I could spend literally half of the time I was getting paid reading. (I think I was paid $7.50 an hour, which, 31 years later, is still more than minimum wage in North Carolina).

So at the end of my first summer, I switched jobs. Mostly, I was Cindy Bear (Yogi’s girlfriend), but sometimes I was BooBoo, George Jetson, or Jabberjaw. I read a lot of books in the character dressing room on International Street—I remember finishing The Sheltering Sky, a gift from Richard, then suiting up and heading out the door, down the metal steps, through the courtyard and into Hanna-Barbera Land, where I lay in a ball pool for a while with some little kids (a good trick on a hot day).

As a character inside a fake-fur suit, with a foam lining under that, and a poly-cotton jumpsuit under that, I learned a lot of tricks for staying cool.

1. Obviously, take lots of breaks. Our breaks were tied to the heat index, and if it was over ninety or ninety-five (somewhat unusual back then), we took them more often and had longer breaks. The heat index measures both humidity and the temperature—we’re told that this is how an eighty-eight-degree day can feel like a hundred degrees or more on a very humid day. What matters with the heat index is not just how hot you feel, but how effectively your body can cool itself with sweat. Sweat cools your body when it evaporates—it literally takes some of your body’s heat with it. But when the air is really humid, the rate of evaporation decreases, and this important cooling function is compromised.

2. Drink water. We drank a lot of water before work and on breaks, and with the character of Jabberjaw, you could even sneak a water bottle into his snout.

3. Stick to shady areas. This was why I often went to Hanna-Barbera Land instead of International Street or the areas around the roller coasters—way more trees and shade, while some of the coaster/ride areas were pavement-bound heat islands. Plus, little kids were less likely to wallop you than coaster-riding teens.

4. Put a cold, wet towel on your neck. On especially hot days, draping a wet cool rag around your neck helped a lot.

5. On breaks, sit in front of a fan—we had air conditioning but also massive fans in our break room. Standing or sitting in front of the fan helped cool our core body temperatures quickly, especially as it also helped evaporate sweat. My favorite place to write is actually on the porch in front of a fan.

I was remembering all of these tricks, of course, because we’re in the middle of what is likely to be the hottest year on record. It’s hot as dammit, and not getting any cooler overall. Our best outcome, if governments and the fossil fuel industry put people and the Earth above profit, is that things stay like this. Which is not great—hundreds of people in the United States have died this summer from heat waves (so far), including seven people visiting National Parks. Last year, more than 61,000 people died from heat-related illnesses in Europe. And heat waves aren’t the only climate crisis-caused disruption we’re facing. Smriti Ravindra reports that where she lives, in Mumbai, it has rained so much lately that schools and offices have closed, yet in the northern part of India, where her cousins live, it’s so dry and hot that crops are failing. Hurricane season has barely started, and my cousin Nigel worriedly reported that he thinks the Outer Banks may be “due” for a devastating storm this year.

Last week, Bea and her cousin Marlo (Nigel and Lori’s delightful daughter) attended a wonderful, family-favorite camp (Clapping Hands Farm) that was entirely outdoors. Every day except Monday, it was above ninety degrees in Pittsboro.

The girls didn’t complain—not once, which surprised me. I think it helped that camp was in the country, on a large piece of forested land with zero pavement, and that the counselors were super-responsible about water reminders and cooling stations. We even had a chance to try one of their favorite games at camp share—Rainbow Tag—which was a great way for families to see the different spaces in camp. The fairy forest, which is cooler; the big field, which sometimes catches a breeze. The big shady art shed where you can sit on a stool and have a cooling water break.

But like my Kings Dominion memories, will this be an experience that Beatrice and Harriet’s children won’t be able to share? Thirty years from now, will an all-outdoors summer camp in North Carolina be totally impossible?

Will it be impossible ten years from now? Five? Forget whether our kids will one day have the option of having kids—will they even be able to be camp counselors, in the same way Clapping Hands counselors return after attending as children?

I hope so. But I’m afraid.

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In good news from the FTT, I’m really happy to share that Plant Pets has gone to Storey’s amazing designer and illustrator, and Bea and I saw some sample pages last week. They are adorable, cool, and better than we even hoped! Stay tuned for a sneak peek soon.

And, my news:

Big Yellow Bus: The Essential American History of a Disappearing Public Good started with this post, almost two years ago. Since then I’ve learned a lot—from the inspiring and nostalgic to, because this is America, also dark and depressing—about the history and future of the school bus. I’m so excited to share this book’s journey with you, especially since your interest in the topic helped feed my interest, and because I also know that many of you have great stories to share (which I would also love to hear and will probably continue to bug you about—looking at you, Marsha G. and Lori K.).

More soon about that!

Have you ever seen a squirrel or a dog lying spread-eagled on the ground? That’s called splooting, and it’s a strategy for staying cool.

We also loved this NPR story about hiking trails on private land—a great way to help your neighbors and preserve wild spaces and farmland.

And, some good tips on staying cool in your home if you don’t have or prefer not to use air conditioning.

Stay cool, Frog Troublers! Eat some jalapeños, drink some tea, and have plenty of water at your side.

And let us know your fears, cooling tips, and things you’re excited about in the comments! We love to hear from you.