All over town we’re seeing signs of people felled by the stunning heat wave, sleeping on benches under shady trees, lounging lethargically on the grass in parks. We’ve found ourselves working at partial power, desperately needing to nap and recuperate.

We’ve found two unexpected antidotes.

Japanese artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi‘s woodcut (c 1800) of a woman praying under a waterfall is to us one of the most refreshing images we’ve ever seen. We imagine ourselves there, sitting quietly under the thunderous rush of cool water…

…and if that doesn’t do it for you, we recommend…

Martha and the Vandella’s 1965 Motown hit Heat Wave. We wonder if we imagine the blasting heat wave being LOVE and crazy passion, it’ll shift it into something more pleasurable. (Video link here.)

At the very least, it gets us grooving…