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 restorative naps and ways to feel cool.

We’ve compiled some unexpectedly refreshing ways to cope:

Martha and the Vandella’s 1965 Motown hit Heat Wave (above) sounds is pure hot summer vibe. If we imagine the blasting heat wave being LOVE and crazy passion, will it shift it into something more pleasurable?

 …When we see Japanese artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s woodcut (c 1800) of a woman praying under a waterfall, we imagine ourselves there, sitting quietly under the thunderous rush of cool water…

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..We chill our wine with Wine friendly grape ice cubes, the brain-storm of our friend Anthony Giglio…

Anthony Giglio

 

This teeny video from Ellen Silverman provides a zennish moment of relief for us folks who can’t get to the beach:

A post shared by Ellen (@ellensilverman) on

 …As does the sublime Mojito from her cookbook, The Cuban Table. Recipe here.

Ellen Silverman

 …On a hot day, we can think of nothing more refreshing than Hermeto Pascoal’s astonishing Musica de Lagoa, made in a lagoon… Well, really, he made the lagoon into an instrument…

 

This cooling salad of Blueberries, Feta and Mint is a play on an endless improvisable formula of Summer Fruit with Feta, Olive Oil and Maybe an Herb…

Ellen Silverman

the great 8th century Chinese poet Li Po makes us feel the wind from the pine…

Gently I stir a white feather fan,
With open shirt sitting in a green wood.
I take off my cap and hang it on a jutting stone;
A wind from the pine-trees trickles on my bare head.

swingin' in the rain

 

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