How Will You Beat the Heat?

July 6, 2007 — -- Americans will clock out for the weekend today united by a heat wave that's slow cooking much of the country, with daily highs easily clearing the century mark in a handful of hot spots and little relief in sight.

While most, except for the lucky ones in a few coastal pockets of cool, will labor under the same scorching temperatures, not everyone will approach their sweat with the same tack.

In Nevada and Arizona, where temperatures are forecast to hit 115 degrees, a pilgrimage of 150,000 Americans is excepted to descend upon Lake Mead in search of watery refreshment.

In Idaho, where the mercury rose to 108 degrees, one manager closed up shop for the day Thursday, opting to take his colleagues tubing down the Boise River rather than keep them pent up in the office.

Of course, many offices benefit from air conditioning, a 20th century heat antidote, but all those BTUs can put stress on the electrical grid. Fried electrical transformers in Las Vegas, a sizzling 113 degrees, cut power to 1,000 homes Thursday.

The outages are a reminder to California residents who last year faced an 11-day heat wave that knocked out electricity to nearly 1 million homes and caused 131 deaths. Listen closely and you might hear warning whispers of rolling blackouts.

For all the legitimate global warming debate, potential dangers of the current heat index and rancor that 2007 may be the hottest summer on record, there are homespun ways to brave the heat that date back generations.

Hot weather, or conversely, the desire to undermine Mother Nature, is nothing new.

From straightforward and simple solutions like the shade of a tree, a refreshing glass of iced tea or a favorite watering-hole dip to more creative measures — a frozen rice sweat-sock head wrap — most Americans are playing the same beat-the-heat game.

What's your secret to staying cool?

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