dog days of summer Archives - View from the Front Porch

27 07, 2026

Summer Dog Days

By judythemorgan|2026-07-26T16:15:26-05:00July 27th, 2026|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

The dog days of summer are here. It’s hot. It’s humid, and there’s no relief in sight. Where I live, we’re floating in swimming pools and searching for parking spaces beneath shade trees when we must go out.

Mostly we’re hibernating inside with air-conditioning to escape the heat and stay cool. My dog doesn’t move from in front of his fan.

The term “Dog Days” has been used forever to describe the hottest, most sweltering weeks of summer, but summer heat doesn’t really have anything to do with dogs. It comes from astronomy, specifically the Dog Star Sirius, which rises and sets with the Sun in the summertime.

Ancient Egyptians believed that the brightness of the Dog Star Sirius added heat to the sun and produced a long stretch of sultry weather during the forty days beginning July 3 and ending August 11.

The accuracy of those ancient “dog day” dates doesn’t hold today, according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Jim Andrews. Summer dog day dates actually vary based on the rotation of the Earth and whether you live in the northern or southern hemisphere.

Anyone who’s lived in Texas knows that dog days can (and do) begin well before July 3 and extend long after August 11. Afternoon temperatures can soar into the nineties with heat indexes in triple digits. Heat wave warnings are sounded well into September.

Fortunately, dog days don’t last forever, even though it feels like it. And summer can have its charm. It’s a laid-back time. Time to enjoy:

~Swimming

~Going barefoot

~Ice cream cones and frozen slushies.

~Watermelon and fresh veggies.

~ Lazy days

~Sitting under the porch fan and reading

~Sipping Dog-Day Iced Tea

Here’s a great recipe for Dog Days Iced Tea from the Old Farmer’s Almanac

Ingredients

7 bags black tea (English, Earl Grey, etc.)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup mint leaves and sprigs, divided
2 cups of chilled orange juice
1 orange, sliced crosswise
1 lemon, sliced crosswise
ice cubes

Instructions

Brew a strong tea in about 10 cups of water. While still hot, add sugar and about a dozen mint leaves. Let cool.
Remove tea bags and mint; then add orange juice, fruit slices, and ice.
Serve over more ice, garnish with fresh mint sprigs, and add a fruit slice or two to each glass.

Mostly remember: Fall is coming! This heat will pass…

Unless you live in Texas. Here we’ll be hot until November, maybe December, but we don’t have snow and ice to deal with. 😉

Hot? Blame the stars!

By judythemorgan|2023-07-13T08:40:41-05:00July 17th, 2023|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

Summer’s hottest days , better known as the “dog days of summer” are officially upon us.

According to the National Weather Service, Dog days can be traced back thousands of years to the days of the Roman Empire. The dates July 3 through August 11 are the twenty days prior and twenty days after the star Sirius rises and falls in conjunction with the sun.

Source: Almanac.com

Sirius is nicknamed the “Dog Star” and the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (Large Dog). The name Sirius comes from the ancient Greek word for “scorching” or “glowing.”

Ancient Egyptians were star watchers and noted Sirius rising in the morning sky then traveling across the sky with the sun all day and blamed the double-whammy from Sirius and the sun for the heat in July and August.

Greeks and Romans believed Dog Days to be a time of drought, bad luck, unrest, and sickness where the extreme heat would drive dogs and men mad.

They might have been on to something.

An Old Farmers’ article says: “A 2009 Finnish study tested the traditional claim that the rate of infections is higher during the Dog Days. The authors wrote, ‘This study was conducted to challenge the myth that the rate of infections is higher during the dog days. To our surprise, the myth was found to be true.'”

Truth is, Sirius doesn’t affect seasonal weather here on Earth. The tilt of the earth on its axis is what makes it so much warmer in the summer and the Dog Day dates change along with the sky shifts.

But, as long as Sirius the dog star continues to appear during the hottest part of summer, the Dog Days of summer will live on.

Summer Dog Days and Back-to-school Time

By judythemorgan|2020-07-06T09:12:39-05:00August 12th, 2019|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

It’s August. It’s hot, it’s humid in Texas. There doesn’t seem to be any relief from this year’s record setting summer heat. We’re having realio, trulio dog days of summer.

Photo by Lisa Fotios from Pexels

The term comes from the Egyptians who believed the Dog Star Sirius added heat to the sun and produced a long stretch of sultry weather during the forty days beginning July 3 and ending August 11.

Those of us who live in Texas know that dog days can (and do) begin well before July 3 and extend long after August 11 no matter how bright Dog Star Sirius shines. And, like our dogs, in this extreme heat, all we want to do is nothing but lounge around.

This year triple digit heat warnings of dog days are competing with all the excitement of back-to-school preparations.

Tax-free shopping days add to the frenzy for school clothing and supplies. Even though it’s been years since I’ve taught, I find myself caught in the eagerness and stocking up on pens and pads and folders.

Teachers are braving the temperatures and getting ready for the new school year. Not just public schoolteachers but also all those moms and dads who undertake to homeschool. To all of you, thank you.

Soon, let us hope, these dog days will be a memory. Fall will bring cooler weather and colorful leaves, pumpkins, and holiday bazaars.

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready!