Modern residential architecture is designed around the notion that an HVAC system will be utilized to artifically control the environmental conditions of the building as the occupant so desires. Unfortunately such design almost always excludes natural ventilation should the power go out. The result is a house that gets hot in the summer and does not have enough natural airflow to keep the inside reasonably comfortable. I learned this when I bought a house built in 1920, and saw how I could sit in the house through the summer with little more than a couple window fans going, while neighbors who'd rebuilt or drastically remodeled were not so fortunate. Homes built prior to the advent of consumer HVAC were designed with this consideration in mind, and so they stay much more hospitable than the newer strip homes you see with fewer windows, inadequate ventilation, and compartmentalized living spaces which prohibit air flow.

Even in older homes I would still rather have at least a window ac unit in the summer. Then again, my internal thermostat has always been about 20 degrees cooler than the average, so I don't mind living in a home only 60 degrees warm. If I can at least have a fan on me, I can tolerate the heat, especially trying to sleep at night.

Awnings, screen doors, open porches and gazebos.
Wear a wide brimmed hat outside, it keeps the sun off your head and neck. This helps prevent heat strokes.
Wear loose clothing (white cotton?) which the breeze can blow through but still shades you from the sun. You want the cooling effect from the sweat evaporating off your skin.

Plenty of cold water to drink and cool swimming holes when needed.
It can be surprising how much better a cool shower or bath can make you feel on a hot day. Even splashing cold water on the forearms (the insides of the elbows where the skin is thin) will help cool you off a lot on a hot day.

Another help is to eat lots of melons.
Muskmelons seem to help a person stay cool the best.

Hot peppers also help even out the circulatory system when it is hot out.

Salt can help if you are sweating a lot, but only enough that it quits tasting sweet to you when licked off the palm of your hand.
(When you are short of salt it does not taste salty, if it tastes salty you have more than enough in you already.)

Plant more trees if you can.

Hi everyone! Yeah, that's me. And my deck. I don't actually work out there - I happened to be reading email when the photographer showed up.

That picture does not do the deck justice. It goes on and on and on and on...there's two more levels and a stone path too!

Florida schools in the 1950's and 1960's were built top to bottom with jalousie windows. They didn't need A/C. Now, these old schools have these windows painted over.

Rub it in some more wouldya

That just reminded me of how lots of homes around the mediterranean are painted white and have open roofs that allow you to sleep outside if necessary. They were interviewing an engineer on the radio the other day and he said that by just lightening up asphalt to a greyish color (which apparently is easy to do) it could reduce the temp. by about 20F. Necessity is the mother of invention (or ingenuity) I suppose.

Big trees really help too, a lot of cities don't have them and it's like baking your house in the sun all day.

Today I stayed at home in my sailboat all day. Though the temperature climbed to about 90 there was an 8-10 mile an hour breeze and it was tolerable. I think the shorts and tee-shirt helped a lot, too!

It was mid 90s here and what made it worse... 45% humidity.. no idea why! Might be where I`m situated in the trees or something but wow, not used to that much humidity here in CA !