The Dog Days of Summer

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz

You can tell when there's nothing going on around Waterville. That's when I resort to posting definitions of words or phrases: this one is from Wikipedia.

The term "Dog Days" was used by the Greeks as well as the ancient Romans (who called these days caniculares dies (days of the dogs) after Sirius (the "Dog Star", in Latin Canicula), the brightest star in the heavens besides the Sun. The dog days of summer are also called canicular days.
The Dog Days originally were the days when Sirius, the Dog Star, rose just before or at the same time as sunrise (heliacal rising), which is no longer true, owing to precession of the equinoxes. The ancients[who?] 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 "when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies" according to Brady’s Clavis Calendarium, 1813.

In Ancient Rome, the Dog Days extended from July 24 through August 24 (or, alternatively July 23-August 23). In many European cultures (German, French, Italian) this is still the period to be the time of the Dog Days.
The Old Farmer's Almanac lists the traditional timing of the Dog Days as the 40 days beginning July 3 and ending August 11, coinciding with the ancient heliacal (at sunrise) rising of the Dog Star, Sirius. These are the days of the year when rainfall is at its lowest levels.
According to The Book of Common Prayer (1552), the "Dog Daies" begin on July 6 and end on August 17.

********

It's 65 degrees and the night-long rain has stopped.

******************

Three years ago ..........

...... July 31, 2006.



Now blooming in soggy spots and ditches, purple-spiked Vervain and pink Joe Pye Weed.


Cardinal Flower

Along the banks of the Sangerfield River in Nine Mile Swamp.



Draped over roadside hedgerows, Wild Clematis - sometimes called "Virgin's Bower."

**************************

It's "Children's Day" at the Oneida County Fair in Boonville.


***********

Do you have your tickets for tonight's Monk Rowe concert at the Library?

FOR THE RECORD

Have a good weekend, everyone!