Sirius Condition

Between siestas

Taking this week off for vacation I expected it to be warm. Okay, hot … but over 100° each day?! Because of the heat we’ve only been able to work on our current outdoor landscaping project early in the morning, or after the sun dips behind Mt. Rubidoux … between 8am and sundown we’re hiding out indoors, making like Frito and Inky. By that I mean that we’re laying very low, sleeping even, as they do … for hours! Talk about the Dog Days of Summer …

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Summer’s ‘Dog Days’ are the hottest, stickiest days of the year and are usually between early July and early September. ‘Dog Days’ also sometimes refers to a time of stagnation, a period lacking progress. Further, people think the overheated, lazy-hazy feeling of ‘Dog Days’ bears a relation to the lay-about behavior of domesticated pooches. All of these meanings have been applicable to us this week: it’s been horridly hot, our project’s progress has been hampered, and we’ve certainly been in siesta mode daily … Where’d all this doggie business come from? It was the Romans of ancient times who originated the Dog Days concept. They believed that the Dog Star, Sirius, was the cause of this lackadaisical heat-effect, brought about when the canine star got too close to the sun; and that during this period wine would go sour, and people and dogs would go mad … to get Sirius to ease up, the Romans would kill a brown dog as an appeasement sacrifice. Yikes! I’m not so heat-crazed that Frito should feel threatened but I can see where the Romans were coming from, this heat can make you a bit nutty… So, as soon as the sun hides itself again, it’s back outside. Our project’s still got a ways to go and the week’s almost up!