BRUNSWICK

At first glance, Dionne Commons looks like a typical assisted living facility, but it might be one of the happier homes in Brunswick on a bad-air alert day.

Under a large ranch-style entrance, residents recline in the waning sun on cushioned patio chairs, rocking lightly back and forth in the breeze.

While most of us spend hot summer days attached to work and pining for the beach, the geriatric community here rests on rockers and savors the sun.

Heat? What heat?

On Wednesday, as the late-summer sun cooked temperatures up toward 90, Wendy Baril, administrator of Dionne Commons, said “there are several residents that will even wear their sweaters on days like this and still be cold. It doesn’t affect them at all. It affects the staff more than the residents.”

Several areas within the building are air conditioned — the residential areas, the library and the activities office — but most of the residents seem to like it hot.

“Remember the spell we had where it was in the 90s and humid?” Baril said. “I tried. I said, ‘Shut the windows, shut the blinds!’ But they open them. They don’t want to be cold.”

The real concern is with the air quality. On humid days, breathing can be more labored for residents with respiratory conditions.

“It’s a losing battle,” Baril said. “If it’s warmer weather, they want the windows open.”

Dehydration is another key con- cern, as residents can become dehydrated without being aware of it.

In sweltering weather extra snacks and drinks are provided and residents are encouraged to forgo strenuous activity. “If it’s really hot, we’ll cancel activities, especially at outdoor places like the Topsham Fair,” Baril said.

“There are a couple of people that will wear shorts because they’re hot, but I can only think of one person that the heat really bothers,” Baril says. “Let’s talk to her.”

She leads the way down an immaculate corridor with shared rooms to the right and left looking for Eleanor Rafnell.

Rafnell is spotted sitting next to an air conditioner, deeply involved in a game of cards with a few other residents.

Baril takes over her hand for the next round. “Now don’t mess me up,” Rafnell warns.

A native Mainer, Rafnell is accustomed to cold weather.

“I used to be a crossing guard,” she said. “We’d have to stand outside in all kinds of weather, sometimes 10 below or 20 below freezing. It’s OK if you’re dressed for it.”

Baril chimes in over her hand of cards, “So you didn’t wear your bathing suit, Ellie?” Rafnell chuckles and says, “Oh, good Lord, no.”

“It’s the medications, Coumadin especially, that make people feel cold,” Rafnell says.

Coumadin is a blood thinner, used to prevent the development of new blood clots and the growth of existing ones. It’s helpful in the prevention of heart attack and stroke.

“I used to be on it,” she says. “Now, on hot days, I have an air conditioner, and I’ll just sit by that.”

At the Skolfield House, an assisted living facility in downtown Brunswick, Resident Services Director Emily DeRosier tells a similar story.

She was asked how residents were coping with the heat.

“These guys don’t mind the heat,” she said of the Skolfield residents.

“We push fluids so no one dehydrates, lots of popsicles, and ice cream too; they love it,” DeRosier says.

She says that activities remain mostly the same. “We have a barbecue every week, and if it’s really hot we’ll just eat indoors.”

“There’s air conditioning in nearly every room,” says DeRosier. “We’re really lucky that way — that the residents have that kind of relief.”

At Thornton Hall Assisted Living, part of Mid Coast Family Services, they have a slightly different approach.

“This is how we beat the heat,” says Sally Fitch, the recreational coordinator, as she gestures to a table spread with the last remnants of a wine-and-cheese tasting.

The residents gathered at the table, wine glasses nearly empty, chiming in with various tips for staying cool. Stay by an air conditioner. Surround yourself with fans. Above all, stay indoors.

Louise Winninghoff, agrees with the final piece of advice.

“The summer isn’t any more difficult than the winter if you stay inside,” said Winninghoff, a longtime resident of Brunswick.

“What about you, Eva,” says Fitch, speaking to a resident in a long-sleeved red fleece, “You like hot weather, don’t you?”

Eva Ingram, originally from Washington, spent years in the Dominican Republic before retiring to Maine to be near her son.

“This isn’t even this hot,” Ingram says with the authority of one who really knows.

“We would rather see the warm weather,” Paula Marsand agrees. “But September and October are absolutely glorious here,” says Winninghoff, and the table sounds a general agreement. “In the summer, the humidity is difficult. Look at me,” she says, gesturing to her oxygen tubes.

In addition to hosting indoor events for residents, extra snack carts are taken around to residents to make sure they get enough fluids.

Outside the front entrance of Thornton Hall, under a brickwork archway, two residents are catching the last rays of sun.

For Jane Lindholm, the weather isn’t even a topic of interest. She has more important events pending.

“Did you know Jane is about to have a birthday?” says Dinah Caldwell, nodding to Lindholm.

“In a week I’m about to turn 98,” says Lindholm, but when offered “congratulations!” by others, adds, “No, I don’t think so.”

ROSANNA GARGIULO is a Times Record correspondent who lives in Brunswick.