Dog Days of Summer

Here we are in the midst of the late summer and with it comes the hottest of the weather we will have. The last few days have been typical of summer weather in south Georgia. Thankfully, it is just now starting and we have had a very nice July before this. The heat indexes are full in the 100’s and the low this morning was 79 degrees. Just as there are some days in the winter when we decide to have our coffee indoors, we did just that this morning for the opposite reason.

I did a little reading about the Dog Days terminology and found that contrary to what I and many others thought, it is referring to a certain star, Sirius, the Dog Star. This star rises in mid to late summer and was traditionally thought to have contributed to the extreme weather of the season. Also, I learned that the Dog Days are generally considered to occur between July 3rd to August 11th. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the worst of the heat were gone by then! But we often have very hot weather through September which is sometimes very frustrating.

My goal this year is to not let myself get too irritable about the hot weather and try to embrace and enjoy all that can be done at this time of year. I am working on it. I have enjoyed the season so far and am very happy that we have been able to continue to take our daily morning walks even though we are soaked completely by the time we are done. The gardening has been fun and interesting but I can definitely see the growth slowing and some of the native plants looking a little tired and spent.

During some of my reading about the meteorological calendar I am reminded that autumn actually begins with September. This has me holding on and determining not to give up on enjoying the last of summer. I know it will still be hot but the days are shortening and at least we should begin to see a little change from the number of daylight hours even though there is no cool weather to accompany it. I can at least put out almost fall decorations and wait for the weather to turn. This will be the time when we will be watching for the olives and the grapes to finish ripening and that is definitely something to look forward to. We should be able to resume our late afternoon rides around the pond as the horse flies will lessen and new animals will appear as they move through their seasons as well.

Some of the the things we have most enjoyed this summer have been:

Picking and eating all the wonderful squash!

Great fishing and beautiful water in a pond that is full.

Walking companions on our morning walks.

Thank you, Lord, for all the many blessings.

Reflections On August

Midsummer Joys