Anyone who has spent more than an few minutes outside these past weeks will witness and declare that the dog days of summer are upon us. This year, the hottest days of summer seem more oppressive and are truly days not fit for a dog.

I find myself doing outdoors work as early as possible in the morning to mitigate the heat, and that has caused me to be a little doggy. I do my best work in the morning, so I try to use that time for the things I consider important. Picking up sticks and mowing are not high on my “important” list.

With heat indices over 100°, and imagining how a dog must feel as it seeks shade, water, and wanting to lie around panting, I have wondered at the origin of the phrase “dog days”. Although it may be descriptive of how a dog, and the rest of us, feel in this heat, it has little to do with actual dogs, but rather a mythical one.

The Romans associated these hot, sultry days of summer in July and August with Sirius, the Dog Star, which is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major. Sirius is Orion the Hunter’s dog which follows him across the southern sky.

The Dog Days were the time of the year when Sirius rose just before or at the same time as the sun. The Days were believed to be an evil time when the Sea boiled, the Wine turned sour, Dogs grew mad, and all other creatures became languid; causing to man, among other diseases, burning fevers, and hysterics.

Homer, in the Iliad, describes the approach of Achilles toward Troy in these words:

Sirius rises late in the dark, liquid sky

On summer nights, star of stars,

Orion's Dog they call it, brightest

Of all, but an evil portent, bringing heat

And fevers to suffering humanity.

Sounds right to me.

The Dog Days were declared anciently to be between July 24 and August 24. It must have been cooler in Rome in those days. The Old Farmer's Almanac lists the traditional period of the Dog Days as the 40 days beginning July 3 and ending August 11. These people must never have visited Lower Alabama in June or September.

Given that the traditional period of the Dog Days is forty days, a scripturally significant number, the Church of England had to get into the act by declaring that the Dog Days would be from July 6 to August 17, which, if you count them, comes to forty-three days. Maybe that was before the Georgian Calendar, which kind of messed everything up. It is too much for me to figure out in this heat.

Even though I am sitting in an air conditioned house, looking out my window makes me start to gasp for air.

Sweat beads on my forehead and I offer thanks that I was not born with a fur coat and walk on four legs. My tongue is already wagging. I cannot imagine how a dog must feel.

Whether your Dog Days are based on astronomy, or on the behavior of suffering canines, or both, the only thing that matters is that it is hot out there.

I understand Mexican siestas now. Sleep in the hot part of the day and work when it is cool. I think I will go and try it.

David Wilson Atwood is a local writer whose human-interest columns offer a unique perspective. He may be contacted, at www.starchasers.us or david@starchasers.us.