Posted on 08/01/2020 5:44:59 AM PDT by NOBO2012
I know its Saturday, the day normally reserved for all things feline, but its August 1st which means we are officially in the dog days of summer - when all manner of madness can occur.
Specific dates for the dog days vary some believe them to be the entire month of August, in Scandinavia they run from July 22 through August 22 and the Old Farmers Almanac pegs them as July 3 August 11. Most people associate them with the hottest and most humid days of summer so miserable that it drives dogs mad. In fact it has less to do with overheated pooches and more to do with the night sky, or early morning sky to be exact. The Dog Days coincide with the early morning rising of Sirius, the Dog Star.
Sirius is part of the constellation Canis Majoris - the Greater Dog from which Sirius gets its official name, Alpha Canis Majoris.
So if you cant sleep due to the heat, humidity or events of the day you can always get up and watch the Dog star rise. And if you can pick out the entire constellation, well good on you. I will confess, Ive never been very good at picking the constellations out of a sea of stars.
Lovely, but Im not spotting Spot
Sirius, being the brightest star in the sky, is easy to spot but its accompanying canine frame, well not so much, not for me anyway.
But then a real dog is a lot more fun anyway.
Jim Daly Painting
Of course theyll expect to take turns. Hey, my turn Buddy. They dont call them the dog days for nothing.
Posted from: MOTUS A.D.
As a young lad growing up in Minnesota,
the dog days of summer made reference
to poor fishing results. The water
in lakes and rivers warmed up, and
the fish wouldn’t bite on anything.
Something to do with less oxygen in
the water.
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