”Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun,” wrote Noel Coward. Well, try telling that to our military forces serving in the Middle East right now. Perhaps those living in the extreme-heat Sunbelt or Mexico practice siesta time, but our summers are often too short for those of us who enjoy being outdoors to spend the midday hours in air-conditioned comfort indoors or reclining in a hammock under a shade tree.
Considering the summer of 2009 was the 34th coolest on record, with more than 2,000 nationwide record lows recorded, this year is seeing it running substantially warmer – July 2010’s mean temperature was 70.1 degrees, compared to a normal 67.4 – and accompanied by higher humidity. But to “waste” what can be some beautiful summertime days to enjoy the outdoors is hard for many of us to do, so we adjust, adopt some hot weather procedures, and persevere knowing autumn and eventually winter aren’t all that far away.
From experience, I feel two of the potentially warmest outdoor places when it’s hot and humid are golf courses and sandy beaches with no breeze coming ashore. A third might well be large open yards and parks with no shade. Expansive parking lots and asphalt tennis courts are a couple others. Even swimming pools surrounded by a deck or concrete can be stifling hot unless you’re in the water. Conversely, larger ponds and lakes at least usually offer some midday relief via the breeze that flows across the large open expanse of cooler-than-air water. That’s not to say a bright sun, cloudless day can’t see radiational solar heating from the overhead sun making your body temperature rise.
I’m sure everyone has noticed on the hottest, most humid bright sun middays how the felt temperature seems to drop when you moved from direct sun to shade, and that’s a pretty good hint as to how to avoid the warmest areas when planning any outdoor activity. Try to stay in areas that are out of the direct sunlight. If you can’t, or are in a boat on a lake, simply wear a wide-brimmed hat that shades your entire head, neck and shoulders. Tying a wet bandana or cotton scarf around your neck also helps. Whenever possible, wear cotton clothing – shirt and pants – and don’t forget the sunscreen. Lastly, drink plenty of water.
Woodlands offer plenty of shade, but the downside is there usually isn’t much of a breeze unless you stick to higher ground. Plus, summer is when the deerflies can get very aggressive and no insect repellent I know of can keep them off you. They can also bite right through the thin fabric of a t-shirt or even cotton socks. Summer is also peak season for ticks, so any walks or hikes should be preceded by repellent application and culminated with a check of skin areas for ticks that may have attached while you were outdoors.
One of the hottest days I ever spent was, of all places, the northern Quebec tundra. That summer saw the northern areas of the province suffer record high temperatures and a scarcity of rain. I was fishing for brook trout and Atlantic salmon in a medium-size tributary that fed into the nationally famous George River. Midday temps were in the low 90s with a cloudless sky and nary a breeze in the river valleys. The only way I could stay relatively cool, since I was wearing neoprene waders, was to stay waist-deep in the cool water as much as possible and keep dunking my cotton fishing hat in the stream and putting it back on …the evaporation kept my head cool. This trip only proved to me that you can encounter really unpleasantly hot weather conditions almost anywhere in midsummer.
Of course on really hot, humid days, any activity that keeps you in cooler water can add greatly to your comfort and enjoyment. It doesn’t have to necessarily be a swimming pool either. Tubing down a moderately fast flowing river isn’t just for kids. Just be sure to wear old sneakers or something to protect your feet. How about foregoing boots or waders and wearing cotton or khaki pants when wading and fishing your favorite river or stream section. Same goes for pond and lake fishing if you have a specially designed fishing float-tube, sometimes called a “belly boat.” Just stay close to shore and out of the larger waves, if present.
The hottest part of the summer season is often referred to as the “Dog Days of Summer.” And while our four-legged friends get just as hot as we do, the term actually has its origin in astrological history. The Canis Major star, known as Sirius, the “dog star,” part of the Canis Major and Canis Minor constellation, rises and sets with the sun. During late July Sirius is in conjunction with the sun, and the ancients believed that its heat added to the heat of the sun, creating a stretch of hot and sultry weather. They named this period of time, from 20 days before the conjunction to 20 days after, “dog days” after the dog star.
Considering that the weather and temperatures in our area can begin to change come mid September and early snowfall may arrive a month or so later, adopting some common sense approaches to deal with the midsummer “dog days” heat and humidity can allow us the maximum time to enjoy our outdoors before they become a fond memory when the snow and cold of winter arrive. And they’ll seem to be here much quicker than we presently envision they will.