Porty People and Places

The Dog Days of Summer * ....

A walk along the promendade before breakfast this morning was proof of positive progress with my convalescence. It also allowed me to blip this labrador framed in the groynes. It was a lovely 21 degrees of sun on our coast all day. Most of it was spent lounging in our garden listening to the laconic TMS Commentary from The First Test v India at Trent Bridge.

* The Romans referred to the dog days as diēs caniculārēs and associated the hot weather with the star Sirius. They considered Sirius to be the "Dog Star" because it is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (Large Dog). Sirius is also the brightest star in the night sky.

The Romans sacrificed a red dog in April 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 "the Sea boiled, the Wine turned sour, Dogs grew mad, and all other creatures became languid; causing to man, among other diseases, burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies." according to Brady’s Clavis Calendaria, 1813. (According to Wikipedia.)