Howcast Summer Necessities Review: And the Livin’ Is Easy

As a Minnesotan, I think I can safely say this: My people? Love their summers. Even when it is not summer at all.

Anyone who’s lived through one of the state’s bone-chilling winters can tell you that there’s always a day in February when the mercury rises to 50 degrees or so. After temperatures of 30 below zero, it really does feel like a tropical heat wave. People bust out the shorts and t-shirts, optimistic restaurant owners drag chairs and tables to the outdoor patio, and the craziest ones even pay for the “privilege” of jumping into ice-covered lakes. (Hint: that is snow, not white sand. Brr.)

So when summer actually comes around, like right now, we occasionally need to re-orient ourselves. We need to stop pulling on our snowsuits, and start pulling on sarongs.

And that is where Howcast’s Summer Necessities comes in. Its delightful 2-minute video podcasts provide a flurry of tips on everything from making the most of your time at the amusment park (the days that are least busy are Tuesday through Thursday) to earning more dough at your next yard sale (wrap things like non-matching utensils in ribbon to make it seem like what you're selling is classy, not crappy). Each episode focuses on a specific activity, from (legally) turning on a city water hydrant to making a water balloon launcher to shaving your legs, you simian beast.

Though not every tip is innovative on an explode-your-head scale (wait, I should use shaving cream when shaving my legs? Who knew?), I’ve found that pretty much every podcast provides at least one good tip that hadn’t occurred to me. And if I could learn one new thing every two minutes on a regular basis? Well, I probably wouldn’t have locked myself out of the house today. For starters.

The best part is that these are all things that you can do today, instead of waiting until you’ve secured that house in the Hamptons. (Really, O at Home Magazine, since when did s’mores require dragging out ovenproof cake stands, bringing heavy cream to a boil, and putting things in an oven? And how does this fit the headline of the piece, “Your Guide to the Laziest Summer Ever”?

Watch the podcast and learn. Then let the summer truly begin.