Dog Days of Summer

I've never been good with diaries or journals. And even the blog gets neglected at times. I try to keep up with it on a regular basis and do good for a while, but then it all goes haywire and it's two weeks before I post again. 

I think it's the time of year right now.  It's hot.  About the only thing a person wants to do is find a cool spot and survive. Even the dogs want to do nothing more than dig a hole and lay in it.  Which brings me to my topic for the next couple days...dogs.

Doofus

And we'll start with Dog Days.

The Dog Days of Summer are during the months of July and August. The actual dates vary according to which source you read but they are generally the hottest days of the year.

The feast day of Saint Roch, the patron saint of dogs, is August 16. (I didn't realize dogs had a saint.)

"Dog Days bright and clear
indicate a happy year.
But when accompanied by rain, 
for better times our hopes are vain."
 
The Romans sacrificed a brown dog at the beginning of the Dog Days to appease the rage of Sirius, believing that the star was the cause of the hot, sultry weather.

 Dog Days were popularly believed to be an evil time "the Sea boiled, the Wine turned sour, Dogs grew mad, and all other creatures became languid; causing to man, among other diseases, burning fevers, hysterics and phrensies." according to Brady’s Clavis Calendaria, 1813.