August is here, and with it come those lazy, hot days that we remember as “summer” when it is snowing in February.  Here at the Crater of Diamonds State Park that means that the park is presently open from 8 AM to 8 PM.  After August 16^th , we will only have these long hours on weekends, and will close at 6 PM on weekdays .  Kids and parents are both beginning to think of the start of school. So, if you’re going to make that visit to the Crater that you have been talking about all summer, the time to do it is getting shorter.

With those hot temperatures comes the possibility of heat exhaustion for visitors searching for diamonds out on our diamond search area field.  When I look at the weather map, and the temperature is in the 90’s, the heat index (how hot it feels because of the high humidity) reaches into the 100’s.  These high temperatures are reached out on our diamond search area most days in August between the hours of noon and 7:00 PM.

Heat exhaustion happens when your body can no longer keep itself at its normal temperature and overheats like a car radiator.  Symptoms include: heavy sweating, paleness, muscle cramps, tiredness, weakness, dizziness, headache, nausea or vomiting, and fainting.  An underlying condition, like high blood pressure, will make you especially vulnerable to heat exhaustion or its more severe cousin, heat stroke.

Fortunately, with a little bit of prevention, these symptoms can be avoided.  At the Crater we allow people to bring in many different items to help them stay cool.  Umbrellas and folding gazebos are popular sunshades, and on busy days our field resembles a strange kind of beach.  We also have trees and sun shelters, but a hat or a personal umbrella is certainly a must on hot sunny days.  If you are working out in the sun without any of these aids, we suggest that you take frequent shade breaks. 

Equally important preventative measures include cool drinks, wet handkerchiefs or towels around your neck, and ice packs for the back of your neck.  I like those “cool ties” that contain water absorbing polymers.  I keep them in the cooler until it gets really hot, and then tie them around my neck.  Yes, we allow and even encourage our visitors to bring coolers out on the field.  If they forget, we sell bottled water at the Diamond Discovery Center.  Often, however, when I get busy doing something, I forget to drink the water that I brought.  Fortunately, I generally start having one of the symptoms that I listed above, and it reminds me to go back to drinking my fluids.  Feeling thirsty is sometimes a good measure of how your body is coping with the heat and humidity. However, by the time you are really thirsty, you have probably crossed that line from feeling fine to starting to have heat exhaustion.  So, if you know that you are going to be out in the sun hunting for diamonds, and the weather forecast is in the 90’s for that afternoon, it would be smart to start drinking water/fluids earlier in the day.  Unfortunately, some of our favorite beverages, tea, colas, and coffee, all make your body lose its water more quickly, so it is best to stick to non-caffeinated drinks, or plain, old fashioned cold water. 

We offer a couple of other ways to cool off here at the Crater.  Our Diamond Discovery Center deck area has a big fan, and sitting in front of it is a popular place on hot afternoons.  Another way to beat the heat is to come after 6:00 PM.  If a visitor buys a search area admission after that time, it is also good for the next day.  So, that visitor can come again the next morning when we open at 8:00 AM and avoid those really hot hours of the day.  Finally, our Gift Shop is air-conditioned, so visitors can come in, cruise the aisles for a few minutes, and find that really cool Crater souvenir.

By far the most fun place to beat the heat is our water park, which is next to the Diamond Discovery Center.  It is open from noon to 6:00 PM, during most of the summer, but after August 16^th it will only operate on weekends (Saturday and Sunday), and it will be closed after Labor Day.  For our smaller visitors, under 42 inches, it only costs $3.75, and babies under 2 years of age are allowed in free.  Those of us over 42 inches cost $5.50, and even gray-haired ladies like me enjoy sitting under the waterfall or in the middle of our fountains.  However, if a visitor doesn’t want to swim, but still needs to watch over their younger children or grandchildren, the $2.00 admission fee will let them sit in the shade on one of our bright blue lounge chairs.  Bring a good book, but leave your flavored beverages or sodas at home, because we only allow unflavored water inside the water park fence, and no food.   

We hope that this short article will help our visitors to prepare for their Crater of Diamonds State Park visit during the dog days of August.  Whether it’s the weather or our friendly smiles, visitors can expect a warm welcome when they come to visit us in August!

Search area last plowed:  June 18, 2009, Total diamonds so far in 2009 -- 709

Diamond finds for August 2nd to August 9th (100 pts. = 1 carat):

August 2 - Mariam Dean, Hot Springs, AR, 31 pt. white; Robert Horton, Murfreesboro, AR, 2 pt. white, 5 pt. white, 9 pt. white, 17 pt. white

August 3 - Pedro Feliciano, Richmond, IN, 24 pt. white; Seth Barron, Camden, AR, 7 pt. white

August 4 - Allen Platt, Brooksville, FL, 1.31 ct. yellow

August 5 -  Ryan McCafferty, Frenandia Beach, FL,  51 pt. white; Glenn Worthington, Murfreesboro, AR, 20 pt. brown; Denis Tyrrell, Murfreesboro, AR, 4 pt white, 8 pt. white

August 6 - Scott Dean, Disney, OK, 26 pt. white; Glenn Worthington, Murfreesboro, AR, 29 pt. white; Denis Tyrrell, Murfreesboro, AR, 2 pt. yellow, 17 pt. white; Joann Birch, Murfreesboro, AR, 4 pt. white

August 7  - Hal Harris, New Boston, TX, 9 pt. brown; Zach Pearson, Murfreesboro, AR, 30 pt. white

August 8  - Kimberly Tregoning, Allegan, MI, 1.07 ct. white,

 August 9 - Rickey Keeton, Delight, AR, 3 pt. yellow, 17 pt. white; Suzanne Tahme, Beaumont, TX, 31 pt. white