Seattleites find many ways to adapt. More and more seem to be out at 6, trying to wrap up their days before the mercury hits 102. One real estate agent who doesn’t have a lot of work these days (the market being what it is) wondered why people complain so: He spent a pleasant record-hot Wednesday reading and sipping cold beer inside his unconditioned house, where temps reached the high 90s. “It’s fine as long as you don’t move much,” he says. Nice work if you can get it.

Some other friends who couldn’t stand to keep the home fires burning headed to Northgate last night, determined to eat in an air-conditioned restaurant off an air-conditioned concourse. So did half the town, it seems. There were long lines everywhere.

Fortunately, there’s always enough room in Lake Washington. Since I was old enough to dog-paddle, I’ve thought the best way to beat the heat is to jump in the lake—especially when we live beside world’s largest, most ecologically healthy urban lake. In this weather, however, it becomes two lakes: a top one about two inches deep that’s like bathwater, and a lower one 214 feet deep with nearer to normal bracing temperatures. To swim in it is to feel like baked Alaska—cooked on one side and frozen on the other.

I can’t complain. Way back when, I took to heart the dictum “Plant fruit trees while you’re young.” And the addendum: “Don’t bother pruning.” The persimmon, Japanese pear, and hazelnuts have grown rampant, shading the house’s south side. Inside, the thermometer topped out at 80 degrees. Once that would have seemed hot. Now 80 is the new 65.

So what’s your heat-wave survival secret?