While it's true that you usually can't beat the odds, you can beat the heat. Your body is designed to regulate its temperature and it does a good job most of the time. The problems start when weather conditions are so extreme that the body's cooling system is over taxed. The trick to beating the heat is to help your body regulate its temperature within a tolerable range.

  When all systems are working properly, blood works much like Freon by carrying heat built up in the body out to the skin. Here the skin acts like the coils of an air conditioner and releases the heat into the air. Too much heat for the skin to handle alone and the sweat glands swing into action. The evaporation of sweat pulls heat from the skin and thus has a cooling effect on the body.

  This system of cooling works pretty well as long as the air temperature is cooler than the body or while the relative humidity is low enough that the air can still hold more moisture. As the air temperature approaches body temperature, less and less heat is lost by the skin. As air saturation nears 100%, sweating has little or no cooling effect. That's when we must help our body's cooling systems operate more efficiently.

  Here are ten easy ways to help your body keep its cool. You probably already know all this, but, hey, maybe one of these tidbits will hit a note with ya’.

  1. Be shady. Avoid direct sunlight whenever possible. Wear a wide brimmed hat. Don’t walk on the sunny side of the street. Take an afternoon siesta.

  2. Drink cool. Water is best. Fruit juices, iced tea, caffeine-free soda pop (avoid really sweet drinks); skim milk and thirst quenchers are good. Drink even though you aren't thirsty. Avoid alcoholic drinks as they don't really replace fluids lost through sweating.

  3. Dress cool. Light colored clothes reflect a good bit of the sunlight. Loose fitting, lightweight clothes will allow the air to reach your skin so it can carry heat away. Binding clothes not only feel hot, they tend to hold in the heat.

  4. Eat cool. Your body generates heat by processing food. Eat small amounts more often instead of a few big meals. Keep your eating schedule and have meals that are varied. Vegetable and fruits help replace minerals such as the sodium lost by sweating.

  5. Be your own fan. Remember those paper fans we used before the church was air conditioned? A stiff piece of cardboard will work almost as well. Fanning yourself will cause the moving air to carry away heat coming off your skin. And it helps the evaporation of sweat, increasing the cooling effect.

  6. Work cool. Do outside chores early in the morning or after the sun is low in the western sky. If you must work outside in the heat of the day, do so in small chunks with a reasonable rest between efforts. Keep plenty of fluids close by and drink regularly. Rest in a shaded area.

  7. It’s cool to be fit. Don't let yourself get run down. Get plenty of sleep. Take numerous rest breaks. A healthy body resists the heat best.

  8. Shades are cool. Wear sunglasses that block ultraviolet and are polarized to not only eliminate glare, but many times you can see into the lake and spot those snags before you well, snag ‘em! And, you won’t have to squint which tends to have a tiring effect. Being comfortable seems to make heat more tolerable.

  9. Water is cool. Go jump in the lake, the pool, pond or river. Take frequent baths or showers. The water carries away great quantities of heat from the skin, continues to cool through evaporation. And of course, nothing refreshes like a long cleansing shower.

  10. Sunburn isn’t cool. A sunburned area creates even more heat and problems for your body to deal with, as well as all the other health risks inherent. Avoid sunburn by avoiding too much sun for too long and use a sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or more. Your skin will look and feel better much longer.

  Well, I mowed the lawn today. That may not seem like a big accomplishment to most people but for me it really is. You see, I’m usually not allowed to run the riding lawn mower. My wife says it is for adults only and that it’s not meant to run at top speed when you mow. My reply was if that is so, why do they have such a fast speed and still let the blades turn?

  Mostly, her reason for not allowing me to mow is we had our first new riding lawn mower for one year and the first time I mowed with it the second year I ran into a post and bent the deck on the mower. After that we had to let a little air out of the right rear tire to get it to mow straight. Oh, and we always had to mow on height level 4 or it looked like our grass was growing in waves. Personally I liked the rolling ocean look that it gave the lawn, but Sheila did not find it as appeasing as I did.

  After much foaming at the mouth and gnashing of teeth, I finally took pity on Sheila and worked on the deck. With hammer and giant channel locks I managed to straighten it out to where we could mow on height level 3 and air up all the tires. To me, this was a great improvement! To Sheila, I was still the culprit that broke the lawn mower.

  After much discussion (griping) I took the mower to a real mower repairman. He said he could replace the deck for a mere $500.00 plus labor! Well, after I slapped him on the arm and told him that was a good one, I asked him what he would really charge.

  He was serious!!

  I said "Man, the mower cost me $800.00." He said, "Yep, and the deck will cost around $600.00 total." I loaded up my mower, brought it home and told Sheila she had to live with the deck problem. She said something about me being a deck head or at least I think that is what she said.

  The old mower just didn’t like me. I was mowing close to the sidewalk out the back of our garage and suddenly the old mower tried to buck me over the steering wheel! The front right clip that held the tire in place came off and so did the darn tire. No one was hurt, but there was a huge plume of dust around the whole thing where the blades chopped into the dirt! Luckily I was mowing on height level 4 out of habit.

  A couple years ago the mower would not start and Sheila came inside, sure it was time to send it to the mower graveyard and buy a new one. Upon inspection I found that some of the drive teeth that the starter engaged were missing. I rotated the upper part of the motor and it started right up. I could tell by the way Sheila rolled her eyes she was amazed by my mechanical abilities. We managed to mow with this mower for a total of 10 years.

  Last year we bought one of those Zero-Turn Radius mowers and Sheila said I was not to have my butt in the driver's seat. Since that meant I did not have to mow, I feigned sadness and threw a half-hearted argument her way, but finally agreed she was right and I would stay out of it. Still I have to weed-eat and I have tried bending the drive shaft on the weed-eater, but for some reason she just makes me fix it.

  So you can see it is something of a great personal accomplishment for me to have such a successful day of yard work. I don't think she wanted those flowers near our pecan trees anymore. I tried like hell to stop, but I was moving a little too fast!