Thursday, August 6, 2009

Dog Days of Summer


I think we are officially in the "dog days of summer"....You know on a side note when I use that term I always feel bad, like I am insulting my dog, so you know what, I am going to look it up on trusty Wikipedia right now and share....

"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 Cancula), the brightest star in the heavens besides the Sun. The dog days of summer are also called the canicular days". I did not know this did you?

"The Dog Days originally were the days when Sirius, the Dog Star, rose just before or at the same time as sunrise, which is no longer true. The ancients sacrificed a brown dog (ooohhhh that is horrible) 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.

"Casual survey will usually find that many people believe the phrase is in reference to the conspicuous laziness of domesticated dogs during the hottest days of summer. When speaking of "dog days" there seems to be a connotation of lying or "dogging" around or being "dog tired" on these hot and humid days. Although these meanings have nothing to do with the original source of the phrase they may have been attached to the phrase in recent years due to common usage or misunderstanding of the original phrase."

To prove to you that my dog isn't lazy in summer I have complied some photos of a normal summer for him, oh and yes he is an only child...

*Calvin received his "rock star" status by attending a lot of outdoor concerts and attracting people of all sorts because of the howling he does after each performance.

*He had just won the Mighty Texas Dog Walk and was being interviewed with his Dad.
*He loves a nice restaurant right on the water, who wouldn't?

*He is really into golfing, he loves the cart!

*When it gets really hot though, there is nothing quite like a dip in his pool with his beloved pooch tube.
*He stretches to 6', believe me now?
*Running at the beach, favorite pastime.
*He loves to ride in the convertible, isn't this picture hysterical, it actually looks like he is driving.
*I was napping with him on the sofa and look what I awoke too, how sweet are those feet?
*He loves the lake and the boat too for that matter.
"Okay Mom enough of the pictures", time for a nap and to enjoy my "dog day of summer".

5 comments:

Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions said...

How cute! I did not know that about the phrase. I did always think dog days of summer meant the hot/humid days of August.

Ann Alderson said...

loved the photos and captions, especially the picture of the feet you woke up to LOL he's a lucky dog and so is his family!

Aly Beth said...

Hahaha! That feet shot cracked me up. Beautiful!

~Aly

Anne Lubner Designs said...

Adorable!! I cracked up at the shot of Calvin apparently driving the convertible! Enlightening too re the origin of dog days of summer!

Chic Coles said...

We do a post on our dogs called "dog days of summer as well" with the idea that since they loveee the summer, we had to share what they love to do while enjoying the summer months. Calvin is too cute!