The Dog Days of Summer

In the last couple of days,

I've heard the expression,

"The dog days of summer"

three or four times,

all while listening to the radio.

I've heard the term throughout my life,

but I've never known what it meant

so I looked it up.

(The internet is a marvelous thing...)

A moth on our dining room screen.

The term "dog days of summer" refers to the period between 

early July and early September 

when the hot sultry weather of summer 

usually occurs in the northern hemisphere.

A dead rat snake that Maya and Scott found 

during a walk around our neighborhood.

Great...but how did this period get its unusual name?

(I'm a teacher...and in order to teach, I must be curious, 

and seek answers to things I question, right?)

The brightest of the stars in Canis Major (the big dog) is Sirius, 
which also happens to be the brightest star in the night sky. 
In fact, it is so bright that the ancient Romans 
thought that the earth received heat from it. 
In the summer, however, Sirius, the “dog star,” rises and sets with the sun. 
During late July, Sirius is in conjunction with the sun, 
and the ancients believed that its heat added to the heat of the sun, 
creating a stretch of hot and sultry weather. 
They named this period of time, 
from 20 days before the conjunction 
to 20 days after, “dog days” after the dog star.

The kids after an afternoon of swimming at the Carpenter Village pool
in Morrisville.


According to www.wilstar.com,
the dog days of summer usually occur
between July 3rd and August 11th. 
Obviously, the folks working at our radio station
have the timing wrong,
but it has been quite hot and muggy here this past week,
so we have been experiencing perhaps
an early bout of dog days. :)
Of course we have known for a very long time now that 
the heat is not due to the added radiation from a far-away star, 
regardless of its brightness, 
and that it is a direct result of the earth's tilt.
But now that I actually know where the phrase comes from,
I kind of like it.

A gazebo surrounded by crape myrtle trees...I LOVE crape myrtle trees!

This is also on the pool grounds.

The first ten days of our summer vacation

have indeed felt like the dog days of summer.

(I'm pretty sure Joey would agree. 

He's been one hot dog.)

I do believe they are the most beautiful children on this earth.

Maya has completed two books for her Barnes and Noble 

Summer Reading program already, 

and is nearly done with a third.

She's read "It Still Sucks to be Me",

(yes...it's about a vampire,)

by Kimberly Pauley,

and "Wicked Lovely" by Melissa Marr.

She is nearly through the the fifth and final

Percy Jackson and the Olympians installment,

"The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan.

Maya hanging from one of the abundant crape myrtles 

on the pool grounds.

Scotty and I are reading 

"Golden and Gray:

(An Unremarkable Boy and a

Rather Remarkable Ghost)"

by Louise Arnold.

We have a few more books piled up in his stack as well,

including one that was just sent to us from our best friends

back in Colorado called,

"Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements.

Monkey B hanging from his own tree.

We are continuing with piano

and Maya is still blogging weekly as well.

It's way too soon for boredom to hit...

Scott's buddy down the street

just wrapped up his last day of school yesterday,

and the pool is open through the 12th of September.

We have so much summer left to celebrate!

Our plan is to resume classes on August 2nd,

but our relocation plays a big part 

in deciding our schedule.

For now, though,

we will happily continue to enjoy

our dog days of summer.