DogGONE Dog Days

The dog days or dog days of summer are the hot, sultry days of summer.

They were historically the period following the rising of the star system Sirius, which has routinely been connected with heat, drought, sudden thunderstorms, lethargy, fever, mad dogs, and bad luck.

They are now taken to be the hottest, most uncomfortable part of summer in the Northern Hemisphere.

Homer had it.

From Homer’s Iliad: The baleful effects attending the return of Sirius:

…Sirius rises late in the dark, liquid sky
On summer nights, star of stars,
Orion's Dog they call it, brightest
Of all, but an evil portent, bringing heat
And fevers to suffering humanity…

My take is a little different:

It’s summer (at long last), I’m glad to report,

I’m out of my long johns and into my shorts!

The sun overhead is as warm as can be,

And it’s toasting my toes as it smiles down on me.

I lie in my hammock, too lazy to read,

Eyes closed in content, I’m in Heaven, indeed,

Beneath me, flat out, is young Pandy, my dog,

My companion, it’s true, but eschews dialogue.

She rolls over and gives out a big, happy sigh,

I smile and then, lazily, bat at a fly.

What more could I ask you when all’s said and done?

But a cloudless, blue sky and a hot, happy sun?

You know that the weather in Canada’s rough,

Of these ‘dog days’ of summer, there’s never enough!

Each month, our dear Karen, a challenge portends,

And ‘Dog Days’ went well through her legions of friends,

This theme, for the most part, was easy to pen,

I will need to recall…when it’s winter…again.

Karen of Baking In A Tornado: A Dog’s Day