About Those Dog Days

  It was brought to my attention the origins of the expression, "dog days," came from the sky nation!  According to the Farmer's Almanac, the "Dog Star," Sirius, is the brightest star in our sky, and during the "dog days of summer," the sun occupies the same region of the sky as Sirius. Actually, Sirius rises and sets with the sun during these days. Because Sirius is so bright, the ancient Romans believed it gave off additional heat. So they referred to this period, July 3 to August 11 (20 days before and 20 days after the alignment of Sirius with the sun) as the "days of the dog star."
   While it may, indeed, be the hottest stretch of summer, it's not because Sirius radiates the heat; it's simply a result of the Earth's tilt that time of year that causes the sun's rays to shine down on us at a more direct angle, and for a longer period of time throughout the day. Now, how about that!
   What it indicates to me is the intellect of nature, far exceeds human's understanding or rationale, indicating if we truly want to understand the many unanswered questions of life, the most "enlightening" thing we can do is take a walk in nature, ask the unrelenting questions in our head and then pay attention! It might be a squirrel, rabbit, red-tail hawk or any number of woodland creatures that become the carriers of the wisdom we seek. 
      Let's use these "dog days of summer" to slow down and listen; we just might find out something we didn't know, we didn't know!