Cooling Off

The time of the year in which we find ourselves (from the end of July until the early part of September) is often referred to as "the dog days of summer." In modern usage, this is understood to refer to that period (at least for those of us in the northern hemisphere) when the oppressive summer heat seems interminable. However, have you ever wondered where the term originated?

Most all of us are familiar with the concept of constellations, where ancient people would imagine various shapes in the sky by drawing imaginary lines between the stars. The signs of the zodiac are all based upon these constellations. Two of the notable constellations of ancient times were dogs, one large (Canis Major) and one smaller (Canis Minor)--canis, of course, being the Latin root from which we get our English word "canine." And, the brightest star in the "large dog" constellation was called "Sirius."

Side Note: For all you Harry Potter fans, remember the name of Harry's guardian who could shapeshift and become a dog? Exactly--"Sirius Black"! There's a reason the books are successful...it's little items like that which give the Harry Potter series such a depth and richness. J.K. Rowling definitely knows her stuff!

Sirius (the star, not the fictional character) was so bright that the ancients thought it gave heat to the earth. During January, you can see Sirius brightly in the southern sky (again, if you are in the northern hemisphere). However, during these late summer days, Sirius falls in line with the orbit of the sun, and they rise and set together. So, thinking that the "heat" of Sirius was added to the heat of the sun, ancient astronomers believed that was what caused the hot, muggy days at the end of the summer. Thus, they called them the "dog days."



And, of course, there's nothing better than a nice, cool shower at the end of a hot summer day, especially if you had one of these guys to join you....