SURVIVING THE HEAT

Water fight to stay cool

Would it ever cross your mind that the country folks have to do things a little different when it comes to extreme heat? Many older farm houses where made of stone from the local area, and your neighbour practically had the same. 

Surviving the heat had its challenge. 

 Often on searing hot days in the city of Melbourne, are the days that take me back to a time when you were couped up in a house to stay cool. Which meant blinds down and lights off during the day and only a fan or just the television on at night. Then in the later years limited time on the computer.

 But as time progressed it as more people migrated to South Australia, the power became a problem in extreme heat waves. Often forced to reduce usage whenever there the country areas where notified.

One of the memories that come to me often while living in the city was the need to venture outside approximately every hour to cast my eyes over the countryside for any signs of smoke. 

Often the heat was so severe that you actually only lasted minutes outside. Even, when I’m a lover of the hot weather. Many houses where not built correctly and this particular one didn’t have a veranda of any sort. 

This was often a worry in the countryside that the possibility to evacuate could come anytime. Fortunately, we never had to evacuate during my childhood. But the memory of those days to check outside are a constant reminder to what some other country person might be doing as I step from an air-conditioned building after work. 

 Surviving the heatin the country has helped me in the city; hence I’ve never recalled needing a fan at any house since leaving the countryside. One house had an air-cooling system so that was used occasionally but not to the extreme some people would, that haven’t been exposed to the country upbringing.

Like the city many modern homes are being made of cement and not brick. 

 One January while I hunted for a home for three months, I stayed with a friend for a short while and on this particular day, I stood on the second level peering out the unit window with water streaming down my body, seriously I thought I had turned into a roasting chicken! As the air conditioners where only placed in the main bedroom. It was a joke. It made me aware of how these townhouses are turning into hot boxes…

 Even though a lot of the homes and units built before the 1960’s were built in the double brick format. They are wonderful as stay cool in summer but are not so warm in the winter. Good heating is needed. As long as there is no damp, it’s magical to live in a house/apartment that has been built for the Australian climate. 

 It’s not about being tight with money, it’s about working with what you have got. 

 Wouldn’t you agree?

Post written circa 4thJanuary 2019, 26thDecember 2019