Today I spent some time shuffling around items to prepare for the summer heat. Arrangements of stuff that may be comfortable in cooler times may be unpleasant in hotter times. Adjusting stuff with changing seasons venerable behavior with a history older than air conditioning.

Seasonal Adjustments

Life on earth often revolves around seasons of some sort. Often, we hear about four seasons from cultures of temperate climates ¹, but people in other climates may talk about a "wet season" and a "dry season" instead. ²

To look at strategies for "beating the heat" we can turn to cultures of hot weather places. Consider the djellaba of Northern Africa—a "long, loose-fitting unisex outer robe with full sleeves" (Wikip). This article of clothing is simultaneously cool (by virtue of being loose-fitting) and offers some sun protection (through having long sleeves, a baggy hood to protect from sun and sand blown by strong desert winds).

The human/cultural world

Seasons apply not just to what plants you can grow and staying alive, but also to fashion, marketing, and other urban activities.

In many ways, we are experiencing a special COVID-19 season. The way we dress/act/operate is responding to a change in the environment. All of this is "cultural" in the sense that relatively few people are directly influenced by the biololgy of COVID-19 directly, though "seasonal talk" is buzzing with people figuring out what "the new normal" is.

Seasons of Solitude

With the Internet and stuff, COVID-19 is a new thing. But the ideas of isolation and solitude and quarantine are not new ideas. We can learn about how humans have dealt with these things in the past by studying documents from hundreds of years ago.