You know what isn’t awesome about summer though? The heat. I like a nice sunny, warm day as much as the next guy, but the heat wave that the country has been going through has been insane over the last few weeks. As someone who lives in the South having to endure five straight days of 100 degrees or higher was just about the last straw for me. So what did my wife and I do? We hid out, trying to keep cool and stay out of the sweltering heat.

The heat is pretty inconvenient, but it does have its advantages. All this heat means fewer clothes can be worn, and the fabrics that are worn are light, breathable and hopefully easily accessible. I have found that there’s no better way to stay somewhat cool than to stay home, have the air conditioner going and wear as few clothes as possible. And when you’re not wearing many clothes thoughts inevitably lead to sex.

Take a few weekends ago as an example. It is the middle of one of those 100+ days and my wife and I are lying on our bed. I’m wearing just a pair of shorts, and she’s in a bra and panties. I don’t know if it was the heat, or the lack of clothing but we were all over each other and what few clothes we were wearing were quickly shed. Sometime later, satisfied and happy we dressed again, making sure to keep on light clothing.

I’ve found that the best way to avoid all of this fiery heat is to either stay inside as mentioned previously, or hide out in your pool. Whether it’s your personal pool or the neighborhood pool, water is great for keeping cool, and also enjoying the view of your partner in their bathing suit. What person hasn’t laid on a lounge chair and enjoyed the view of their significant other (or someone else) wearing next to nothing and then diving into the water. Not to mention all of the fun games and the ways you can grope your partner in public without anyone thinking anything of it. By horsing around in the pool, you are both cooling off and sometimes heating yourself up, albeit in a totally different way. You can splash your partner with water, dunk them, basically grope them in general and no one will bat an eyelash because it’s horseplay in a pool. Try doing that on land and you’ll be reviled, but in the water totally cool. So the pool is great for keeping you cool from the heat and for foreplay. It’s a win-win situation.

I think the heat also does something to your mind. I honestly do. Many people talk about how in the winter they have sex and joke about it being “to keep warm” but I’ve always found that the summer is a time where sex is just on the agenda more. The heat does funny things to your mind, and the lack of clothing just sends your mind down that path to begin with. Cool showers are usually something that you take to calm you down from a sexual situation, but for me in the summer a cool shower can be one of the hottest things going. And I’m talking about hot in the good way. Taking a shower with your partner after a long, hot and sticky day. Leave the water cool and help rinse each other off under the pretext of cooling down. In no time at all I have found that things get very steamy in the shower and you’ve found yet another way to beat the heat.

One final thing that we have done in the summers to help the beat the Southern heat is to go on a little stay-cation. Find a hotel near you that makes you feel great and sexy, and more importantly has tremendous air conditioning. Almost all hotels are great with the second part of this, but sometimes it’s more difficult to find a hotel that is chic and makes you feel sexy and isn’t boring and staid like every other place you stay at while on business trips. But if you can find that place it’s totally worth it. Go there and make a rule for while you’re in the room; no clothes allowed unless you’re going out. It’s up to you as to whether underwear counts as clothes or not. Let the rest of the time go where it may, but it is definitely worth a little effort for sure.

So while I love a beer and sitting in the sun at a baseball game, the things that I’ve mentioned here are what I am always thinking of once summer rolls around. Try a few of them out, it will probably help you beat the heat and enjoy yourself along the way.