These are the dog days of summer. No, that’s not really a quote from anywhere (though you can feel free to quote my phrase as much as you want, as long as you attribute it to me 🙂 ). It’s just such a common description of these dead, hot summer days, and it just made me wonder where the saying came from. Why dog days? Is it because people tend to be dog-tired at this time of year, or wish they could just lie around in the grass like dogs? According to Wikipedia, a lot of people think that is the meaning, but it isn’t true. The phrase actually refers to the Dog Star, Sirius, which happens to be near the sun at this time. So now you know.
I still like the relation between ‘dog-tired’ and ‘dog days’ though, mostly because since I’ve come back from Brazil, no one seems to be around and nothing much seems to be going on here. Everyone is either gone on holidays or hanging out at the lake, and life seems to be on hold until regular work and school starts again. A bit of a contrast with bustling Brazil, where it was technically their winter! How’s summer going for the rest of you – is it truly the dog days, or is life bustling?
Hmm... 