The Real Dog Days Of Summer

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August has now crept up a little further on us, bringing to a close end- the dog days of summer. I used to think that these meant the last, hot days of summer but learned something different today. Originally the dog days of summer refer to the dog star, Sirius, and its position in the heavens in the constellations canis major and lepus. The star Sirius is the dog’s nose and the Greeks called it the “dog star". The research is taken from National Geographic on-line where they say, "To the Greeks and Romans, the “dog days” occurred around the day when Sirius appeared to rise just before the sun, in late July. They referred to these days as the hottest time of the year, a period that could bring fever, or even catastrophe." Well, that part is still true today! Here I was thinking the dog days were mid-August to the end when for me anyway, the days are the hottest. But the early Greeks were referring from late July to around August 11. So we are still in the dog days now where apparently it is, "a period marked by lethargy, inactivity, or indolence," according to Dictionary. com. And I'll take that- sounds just perfect! LOL! Photo: mine (baby granddaughter lounges in the dog days)