Seattle seeks ways to stay cool in historic heat

SEATTLE — Seattleites spent a historically hot Saturday trying to stay cool, doing just about anything they could to beat the heat.

It hardly seemed to matter what you were in the historic swelter of this June day.

Whether a flowering plant or a kid, being doused in water seemed to be the best way to survive the heat.

Lucky then that Seattle opened wading pools including this one at Volunteer Park.

“I’m playing in the pool,” confirmed eight-year-old Bennett Barnard of Seattle, “after eating an ice cream cone from the ice cream truck.”

“Playing with my Mom,” said 7-year-old Kevick Lian of Longview, “and splashing her and playing with some friends I’ve made.”

It was a nice respite for adults, too.

Gold Orgi said she had come to cool off. “Sure, sure, sure.” Did she feel cool? “Definitely I do,” she said, laughing.

But Orgi is a native of Nigeria. And she and her daughter, Joy, have laughed as Seattleites complain about the heat.

“Yes, yes, I am,” said Joy. “I’m really enjoying this. I’m loving the weather. "

“Oh, it’s gorgeous today,” said Megan Barnard. “It’s really nice to be out here and to have this available again.”

Some of Seattle’s water fountains, shut off because of COVID, are working now, too.

The high temperatures also meant a run on, what else — ice.

“It’s just so hot right now,” said Theyon Nurilegn of Seattle, as her family stuffed bags of ice into a cooler. “Seattle’s going through a heat pandemic.”

The demand was so great at the Madrona Grocery Outlet, they could hardly keep up.

“As hot as it is outside, yeah,” said Deanna Van Almkerk, store manager. She said she had filled up the ice bin. “And I’m going to have to fill it again tonight.”

“Ice and ice,” said Diane Hood, longtime Central Area resident, pointing to two bags of ice and an iced drink. “Different flavors, different flavors.

As the sun set on this historically hot day, the wading pool has been drained. But it will surely be filled again for Sunday when we expect more, much more of this again.

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