In ancient Rome, when summer days reached their highest temperatures and humidity, they called them "dies caniculares" or "dog days." That's because they associated them with the "dog star" Sirius since it was the brightest star in the Canis Major (Large Dog) constellation.
Nowadays, we think of late July through August and into the first part of September as the dog days of summer. I always thought it was because it was so hot the dogs just sat around in the shade with their tongues hanging out, panting. But I have come to see that there is nothing new under the sun and everything worth knowing today was already known by the ancient Greeks and Romans. I mean those guys didn't miss much. And while they believed the stars influenced their lives (hence the word influenza), can we really say that we know a given thing better than they did?
But all of us know it is summer by the heat and the fact that, when we come inside from being out in the heat, the air conditioning feels so good. I think it is safe to say that, if it wasn't for air conditioning, the South would have far fewer people.
My dad used to tell of when he was growing up -- and even as an adult -- how the nights in Louisiana were so hot and the mosquitoes were so bad that you had to sleep under netting in a house with a tin roof and no insulation at all and that it would be close to midnight before you would fall asleep. We never had air conditioning until I was a teenager and, even then, it was only a window unit in my parent's bedroom and, only then, because my dad's health was failing. Most people back then had an attic fan which pulled air through the house, which in Louisiana meant wet air from the humidity. And, if you opened too many doors and windows at once, you couldn't feel much air. My mother took a short nap after lunch every day and, if we came inside from playing and opened a door, she would yell at us to "shut that door!" We would all have to suffer in hot silence until she got up from her nap.
In those days we almost never wore shoes during the summer months so that the soles of our feet got tough to the point where we could tolerate almost anything. I could put out a cigarette barefooted without really feeling it. I think the worst thing we did barefooted was to walk down to the local store on the black pavement in the summer sun. Your feet had to be pretty tough to do that, but we did it all the time. I'm a real tenderfoot now. I rarely, if ever, step outside barefooted; but, back when we were boys, we stopped wearing shoes around the house as soon as milder spring weather permitted. By the time school was out, our feet were pretty tough already.
My mom's brother Clarke was known for going barefooted even in the winter months and had a reputation for hunting barefooted and being able to sneak up on most any critter. I do know he was a well-known hunter and fisherman back then. Many times he would bring us a big mess of fish or a bunch of mallard ducks he had shot, or maybe a shoulder from a deer. Of course, when my older brothers got old enough to hunt, we usually had plenty of venison and rabbits and squirrels to feed the entire family, which was pretty big.
In the summer months we played many games of basketball and baseball and spent many hours in the woods. We used to drink gallons and gallons of sweet tea and Kool-Aid. I just loved cherry-flavored Kool-Aid. The watermelons were plentiful and tasty. In Farmerville, where I was born, they still have a large watermelon festival every summer. We also usually spent a number of days putting up corn and peas and beans and such like. I still enjoy shelling purple hull peas, which is probably good since I have been shelling at least a few nearly every day this summer. We also have a volunteer watermelon plant in one of our raised beds. It has a few melons on it and a whole bunch of blossoms. I am letting it grow to see what it can produce.
Lately, mornings have been spent working in the shop, with a couple more hours spent there in the afternoons as well; but, when it gets really hot, I try to find something to do in the house. I respect the heat and try to respect my own body's limitations. I hope you do as well as you enjoy the dog days of summer. Happy Gardening!
Sam Byrnes is a Gentry-area resident and weekly contributor to the Eagle Observer. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 07/27/2016