Dog Days Arrive Quietly

We are in the Dog Days, which according to the Farmer's Almanac run from July 3 - August 11. The hottest and most oppressive 40 days of the summer.

Humidity runs high, rain (except this year) is often scarce, and tempers flare at the mere perception of dissonance.

Tuesday evening, the game time temperature was 104 degrees when the Orioles took the field against the Rangers in Arlington, Texas. 

I noticed also that the mosquitoes are beginning to swarm in search of their favorite food--my legs.

Drivers on the road are less forgiving and more ready to be confrontational--which is really scary at the speeds that some of those crazies drive.

Breathe deep and enjoy the scents of summer in the air. I was able to experience a wide range of smells during my drive to and from Ithaca last weekend. I took Cat as the vehicle of choice and for all but about 90 minutes of the 12 hours of driving, the top was down and I was part of the landscape.

Some of the smells are bad--exhaust and decaying animals along the road--but many of the others are sweet, like new mowed hay and the breeze down in some of the deep ravines.

I relish the Dog Days. They are, after all the best days of summer. When the days are still long and the nights warm and close.

Pool days. Hot days. Days that makes the sweat run off your back. Days that make you slow down, and stop and take a breath.

Days that say: notice me now, for too soon I'll be gone and be nothing but a memory.