Dog Days Are On

We are officially in the “dog days” of summer…and it feels like it. Just exactly what are dog days and why are they such, you may wonder. Me too, so I did some research.

Well first of all the period deemed such begins July 3 and continues through August 11. Those days are believed to be the hottest during the summer season. For myself, I think those days might need an update because global warming/climate change seems to be stretching out the heat.

Anyway for many “dog days” brings to mind those summer days that are so devastatingly hot that even dogs would lie around on the asphalt while panting. Originally, the phrase had nothing to do with dogs, or even with the lazy days of summer. Instead, it referenced Sirius, the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major. Sirius means “big dog” in Latin and is said to represent one of Orion’s hunting dogs.

To the Greeks and Romans, the “dog days” occurred around the time that Sirius appeared to rise alongside the sun in the Northern Hemisphere. It was believed that the heat from the two stars, the sun being the biggest and hottest, combined is what made the days from July to August the hottest of the year.

The phrase was translated from Latin to English about five centuries ago and since then has taken on new meanings one of which has a literal meaning like when the dogs go crazy…that could go for some humans too.

So, were the ancient ones right? Are those days really the hottest of the year? Well that probably depends on where you live in the Northern Hemisphere because here in the U.S. July and August are often the hottest months of the year but can’t say whether that’s the case for China or Russia. The hottest period can vary from year to year and depending on latitude, the astronomical dog days can come at different times.

For instance, in Athens (Greece that is) Sirius will rise around the middle of August this year. But farther south, it’ll happen earlier in the year; farther north, it’ll happen later.

Another reason that the dog days don’t correspond neatly with the heat is that the stars in Earth’s night sky shift independently of our calendar seasons. That’s to say that the dog days of ancient Greece aren’t the ones of today. It’s possible that several millennia from now, Sirius’ rise won’t even happen during the summer.

Either way, it’s July now and the 90 degree plus temperatures are lined up to greet us. It’s nice when the rain showers come to cool us off briefly. But then that wet respite from the heat turns into humidity that suffocates us.

The summer heat has the kids refraining from most outdoor activity. Jacob will head out to kick the soccer ball upon occasion but prefers to kick it around his room. He has yet to make the trek to the pool mainly because Robyn and I tend to visit in the morning when he is still sleeping.

We got our share of fireworks in this past weekend over the course of three days in between the rain showers, thunder, lightning, and night heat. On Monday, I wasn’t really sure we would leave the inside air conditioning for the nature’s heat. We did eventually and had quite the adventure despite the dog day temperature.