When the weather in Brisbane gets hot outside, people tend to move inside - unless they are at the beach.
Shopping centres, movie theatres, restaurants, cafes and even cars get busier as people go about their day trying to avoid the heat.
You see, why we want it to be hot, we'd prefer not to have to deal with it, get sweaty or generally feel sticky and icky. It's a love/hate thing.
The majority of Brisban-ites are very well adjusted to dealing with Queensland's sunny, dry (most days) and humid weather. We tend to embrace it, because it's one of the many things we love about this city.
From 5am you'll see runners, cyclists, walkers and general fitness freaks taking to the streets and pathways around town in a bid to get their excercise on before work and the real heat of the day starts close to 8am.
Our buildings, homes, offices and extra-curricular activities (think sport in sheds etc...) are more often than not air-conditioned to keep us cool, and more importantly, sane.
I stay sane during summer with showers. A quick jump in and out of a freezing cold shower is the best way for me to get through the day. I love my showers so much I'd even stand under one at the beach for longer than I was in the ocean.
I'm not joking. Hear me out.
We don't live in an air-con'd place so alternative ways to cool down are a necessity, but I don't go overboard. I'm very aware our Lucky Country has only just recently came out of a drought (if we are indeed out of it completely) but you can be guaranteed that if the thermometer reads 30 degrees or more, I'll take great pleasure in a quick 30 second shower at least twice a day... in addition to my morning wash of course.
However, if the temp is really extreme - you know the really abhorrent heat smacking us between Christmas and Valentine's Day - I do exchange every second rinse for a minute of frozen bliss in the deep freeze.
You must to try it! Make sure you don't open the freezer for at least several hours before the scheduled immersion in order to keep it as cold as possible. If you're running out the door and need a quick fix (I tend to do it after I've applied makeup to avoid melting) open the freezer door and let your face, neck and shoulders embrace the cool brillance of modern technology. You'll get instant reprieve from the sun for up to five minutes. It's just enough time to gallop to your car and blast on the air-con without fear of looking like Cruella de Vil's ugly sister.
I learnt my fail safe freezer trick growing up in Townsville. We didn't (and still don't) have air-con in the family home so we had to create ways to beat the heat. Correction: beat the UNBEARABLE heat.
As a good old-fashion Townsville summer tends to hang around longer than an unwanted house guest, my brothers and I came up with more than enough strategies to maintain our cool cat status.
One of our favourite methods was soaking a beach towel in cold water and covering yourself with it in order to sleep at night. The combination of the ceiling fan on full force and the wet towel simulated an air-con'd atmosphere...that is until approximately 2am when the towel was as dry as cardboard and you had to get up and soak it all over again. I still do this as an adult, but I've swapped the towel for a face washer and just place it over my forehead. Try it.
The freezer trick was always useful after we got home from school and needed an immediate refresh. It never failed to satisfy - so much so we'd often hear Mum yelling, "WILL YOU GET OUT OF THAT FREEZER!"
Oh, those were the days.
This year, as E crawls his way towards his first summer, Teach and I are already devising plans to keep our bub cool. Blow up kiddies pool? Check. Baby bath tub? Check. Hose? Check. Buckets? Check. Floaties and super cute baby boardies? Check. Check. But he'll have to wait for the shower. It's ALL mine!
