The Dog Days of Summer

Here in central Alabama, we are currently experiencing what I have always heard called "the dog days of summer." Current daily high temperatures are in the mid-nineties. Combine that with humidity that often reaches eighty to ninety percent, and you've got weather that will make a tree-hugger cry and beg to stay in the air-conditioned indoors. It's hot enough to melt a hammer most afternoons.

I am old enough to remember the days when not everyone had the luxury of air conditioners, although I look back on those childhood times with amazement now. How did we survive? Well for one thing, we were used to it--no going back and forth between the cool indoors and the blast furnace of the outdoors. I've always felt that the "in and out", sweating then cooling down lifestyle probably contributes to summer colds and sinus problems that are so prevalent during the season. I'm sure that it can't be good for you by any stretch.

People did what they could to stay cool in those days. I remember my grandmother's mill village house had tall (ten foot) ceilings that helped keep the cooler air down low. She also had window and floor fans to keep the air moving, even if it was sometimes just hot air. I remember that one of these fans was about the size of a small airplane engine (and made about as much noise). No child-proof blade guard either. Kids learned fast or got used to being called "Lefty."

But back to the "dog days of summer." I always thought the expression referred to the behavior of dogs during the oppressive heat, as in "it's hot enough to make a dog go mad." I know my own two spend a considerable amount of time taking refuge under our back porch lately. In reality, the expression comes from ancient Greece and Rome. It was the time of their year (July 23 until August 23) when Sirrius (the "dog star") rose about the same time as the sun. Since Sirrius is the second brightest star, they believed that it combined with the power of the sun and contributed to the excessive heat. It is said that they sacrificed a brown dog at the beginning of the season to try and appease Sirrius.

Maybe that's the real reason mine stay under the porch.