Siriusly Hot

By Paul Roberts

I’ve always thought that the phrase “the dog days of summer” applied only to the month of August, when the scorching heat of the day lasts well into the night. I’ve used the phrase a few times in my blog without taking the time to look back at the history of the concept. The heat we’ve experienced for the last few weeks, the heat that is forecast to continue into next week, the heat that has me watering my lawn and garden twice a day, recently drove me inside to my computer to spend a little time searching for more understanding.

My memory tells me I first heard the phrase as a young boy, watching baseball on the small black and white tv set in our house on 4th Street in Meridian, hoping that my Baltimore Orioles would somehow make it into the playoffs and into the World Series. (Side note: the O’s won the whole thing in 1966 and 1970, a stat that explains some of my fandom, since I was a young lad of 7 and 10 years old at the time.)

However, technically, according to the astronomers of ancient Greece and Rome, the dog days run from July 3rd to August 11th, coinciding with the early morning rising of the dog star, Sirius. It’s part of the constellation Canis Majoris, or Greater Dog, and happens to be the brightest star in the sky, excluding our own sun of course.

The ancients knew their dogs, apparently, and easily made the connection, as I do, to their own canines panting in the sweltering heat, sleeping the day away in whatever bit of shade available.

It’s too hot to think. Too hot to write. Keep the poetry short today.  

sun beats down on skin

stretching tight like a snare

bugs buzz an unending drumroll

heat waves bounce

tails twitch

Sirius

at sunrise is here    

                                                                *******************

How are you beating the heat?

To leave a comment on our blog, you can use Disqus.  It is easy to sign up.  You can use Google, Facebook, Twitter or your email.  There is no cost.  Just put in your name and email address and create a password.  Then confirm your account with the email they send you. Then you can use Disqus to comment on the blog.  We would love to hear your thoughts.