Dog Days

Those of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere are now right in the middle of the dog days of summer. Typically, the dog days are mid-July to September 2, the hottest time of the year. Some believe the term dog days originated with the Romans who were convinced it was a period of the year when dogs became mad and wine turned sour, a time when man was plagued with disease and discomfort.

Mankind is still plagued with the discomfort of heat and humidity during the dog days of summer, just ask those who work outside. However, not everyone concurs that it is a problem. Some people just love the summer heat, the higher the thermometer reading the better. Those people are easy to spot: during the dog days they vacation in Florida or they don a sweater when the temperature drops a few degrees; the latter is especially true of older individuals. Although I’m not as young as I used to be, this definitely is not for me.

Those of us who endure the dog days of summer more or less graciously have a tendency to forget that in a few short months, the temperature will dip to an indecent level. When reminded of that fact, we quickly realize that this is the time to make the most of summer especially this year because in addition to the sun, right now we get to experience the big moon in the sky at night which they say is 30% brighter than normal. Who doesn’t love a big moon!

But the dog days are brief indeed and we’ll get to welcome fall before we know it. I personally like experiencing different seasons, but it’s not something all countries get to see. I was recently reading a comment by an African woman who cannot understand how people can survive in snow and ice. We all get used to our own world, don’t we?

When I get older I may need to wear a sweater during the dog days as an older relative had on when I visited her recently, but in the meantime if I could spend the dog days in a swimsuit I would. Some people do, of course, but they have the shape for it. In my case it might well make people think that the dog days do indeed bring discomfort to mankind!