Hello fellow autists and other folk! I’m asking you to share your tips on how to deal with the summer, the Sun, the heat and light, bugs, all of this while trying to have good time? Or at least a decent time?

I happen to live above the polar circle so here the Sun doesn’t set at all for almost few months so yeah, there is plenty of light unless it rains or is cloudy - luckily that’s pretty often too. Anyways, what has helped me;

  • finding good, non-stinky sunscreen (Änglamark SPF50) and finding odorless mosquito repellant (“Free”)
  • I need glasses and I have very light sensitive eyes so prescription sunglasses are the only thing that make it possible for me to do any gardening or reading outdoors etc
  • cool/cold showers (/or swimming) to wash off the SWEAT
  • wearing loose, cotton clothing and wearing a cotton scarf to cover my head and hair, this might make me look like a grandma/child but at least I’m comfy!
  • blackout curtains in bedroom to keep the light out, but also on other windows to keep the house cooler
  • freezer stocked with popsicles and fridge with alcohol-free beer because my autistic fiancé will stop drinking water once it gets too hot… (JUST DRINK SOMETHING!)
  • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    3·
    7 days ago

    Clothing:

    • Head: Have a panama straw hat in a fedora style (only wear that when my clothing style fits)
    • House A: Jinbei (It’s a japanese lounge set made to be very breathable. Has also cutouts under the armpits to be even more airy)
    • House B: Shorts and t-shirt
    • Outside A: T-shirt + jeans shorts
    • Outside B (at work): T-shirt + long trousers (usally jeans)

    Cooling:

    • Foldable fan (japanese style)
    • Electric usb fan + usb-power adapter or usb powerbank

    Survive at home:

    • Day: Close the blinds while the sun is out
    • Night: Open everything you can and pray the house cools down fast enough

    Edit:
    We don’t have that many mosquitos so that is bearable. But I also have blinds on my window to sleep with it open during the night.
    During the day they are gone.

    • Lantsu@sopuli.xyzOPEnglish
      2·
      6 days ago

      Very good, lot of what I do too. Here we get crazy amount of mosquitoes, so all our windows have nets. I keep them open always when it’s cooler outside than it’s inside. I love sleeping with a window open… :)

      • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        2·
        6 days ago

        Same.
        If I can, I have my window open all night long.
        My record low in my room was 12°C.
        Chilly but blissfull sleep :D

        • Lantsu@sopuli.xyzOPEnglish
          1·
          6 days ago

          I sleep much better in cooler too! During the winter our bedroom is usually 14-16 degrees in Celcius, so I have an extra thick blanket and sleep very, very well. It’s hard to adjust to the summer warmth even with a window open. 20 in Celcius feels very hot even with lighter blanket…

          • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
            2·
            6 days ago

            Couldnt imagine sleeping around the arctic circle.
            24/7 day or night/twilight + humid hot summers with constant mosquitos sound like hell.

            I am already getting devoured my mosquitos at home.
            (If I am in the same room as my mother, I’ll attract 95% of them. And the other 5% will either annoy me or maybe puncture her)

            • Lantsu@sopuli.xyzOPEnglish
              2·
              6 days ago

              Took me about 23 years to get used to this, to find the tools that work for me. The darkness in the autumn/winter and the light in the spring/summer literally makes the local people die younger. It’s very stressful, I absolutely feel like going a bit crazy when the Sun comes back… And then again, once it starts going away in the autumn. Our pets feel it too, I don’t got any proof like that, but they just do. Eating less, more wild, sleeps at different times…

              I think it depends a lot on your blood type how much the mosquitoes go after you? At least the locals here say that, and I think it makes a sense because it is visible that others just get bit more. I think I’m a bit allergic to mosquitoes, the first weeks make me look like I had chicken pox… After that, no issues really. But really, wouldn’t change a thing!

              (Oh, I haven’t even mentioned yet the neighbor’s reindeers that WANT TO EAT MY STRAWBERRIES?? Oh well, in the end of the day, reindeers are hungry too so ehh… Still wouldn’t change thing.)

              • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
                2·
                6 days ago

                Also have strawberries. 6th generation since I have first bought them and propagated them since then.
                Have bought a blueberry bush last year (should be a Vaccinium corymbosum. Already got the first 6 berries on the bush ripening).

                Regarding the mosquitos: I remember it being a mix of body chemistry and how much CO₂ you exhale.
                But I can’t remember it exactly anymore.
                I am just mad salty that I get all while my mother receives none while in the same room >:(

                • Lantsu@sopuli.xyzOPEnglish
                  2·
                  6 days ago

                  Cool! I have gotten my strawberries from a local lady who has created her own strain that thrives on clay ground. And no blueberries here, but every year I pick 10-20 litres of bilberries from forests and then make them into jams and juices. And some pies and muffins too, of course. Important source for vitamins in the winter!