Dexter Iowa Community Site

Consider this quote from Abe Lincoln

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

The dog days of summer are upon us my friends. That time of the year, which usually sneaks up about the middle of August, has snuck up and knocked us over the head when we weren’t looking. Plain and simple it’s hot…darn HOT! There really isn’t much we can do about the weather other than to soak in these enjoyable days and lock them away for mid-February or March when we’re huddled in the house under a layer of wool and blankets. However there are a few ways to beat the heat so to speak and I thought I would share just a few fun and different ways to keep cool while your sweating through your socks.

1. The key to staying comfortable is to keep yourself well hydrated. Stay away from the soda pop and fruit juice, but you can’t go wrong with a big tall glass of lemonade. And if you have a few cups left over from May Baskets, why not put them to good use and ask your doctor for a few tongue depressors and make some Popsicles just like you did when you were a kid?

2. Another way to keep cool, and perhaps my favorite idea of all is to lie really still. If you find a comfortable spot, out of the sun of course, and lie very very quietly you’re almost there. If you can reach the state of being near comatose you’ve found it! Just pretend you’re being attacked by a bear and are playing dead. This will also work if you are trying to keep the children from noticing you!

3. Speaking of children. At some point they are going to bug you and want to play. This is a perfect time to join in for a good game of Egyptians and Israelites! This game is an easy one to play, as long as you remember to always be the Egyptian and demand that your slaves…er Israelites fan you constantly. This game can be kicked up a notch if you can convince your significant other to feed your grapes at the same time. And I’m sure your pastor will appreciate you taking the time to teach the children about Moses.

4. If that fails, you can always turn to good old-fashioned water! Growing up on the farm we had two choices. First was swimming in the stock tank in the bull lot; which by this time in the year was starting to get a really cool skim of green yuck on the top of the water. This led to lots of fun games where we had come down with some sort of strange disease and had gained super powers which usually was followed by some sort of argument over who was going to be The Hulk and who The Green Hornet. The second was the end of a garden hose stuck in the top of a milk jug that had holes punched in it. There certainly wasn’t any fancy Whammo Slip-n-Slide at our house, but this brought us hours and hours of entertainment and our mother a little less of a nervous breakdown compared to playing in mud puddles or swimming in the stock tank. A hint for those city kids wanting to try this last one..make sure you have plenty of garden hose. Preferably enough to reach to the hydrant on the side of the neighbors house.

5. Finally another great way to stay cool in the hot summer heat is by nourishing your body with a great summer treat. Ice Cream! This can be done the easy way- or the hard way. The easy way is to call up your grandmother and tell her just how much you miss ice cream and spend hours and hours hand cranking her old wooden ice cream maker. Alas this is always the best ice cream, but I know that some of you need that instant fix and have the patience of a grasshopper during a down pour so I’ll give you the hard way as well. This generally only works if you are a kid, but is usually quite effective. You find a chore around the house, like weeding the garden or mowing or …gulp…cleaning your room. And you get to it, make sure it looks good and come in to Mom or Dad all sweaty and hot, looking forlorn like some nomad who has just come in from the Sahara. Beg them, plead with them, and lay on the floor and cry or heck just plain demand that they take you out for ice cream. This usually works, but remember to be careful about overusing this plan.

No matter what you do this summer, in hot places outdoors, or the cool comfort of the air conditioning, remember to smile and enjoy the beautiful weather…winter is only five months away.

See you next week…Remember, we’re all in this together.