Dog Days or Refreshing Days

I admit, July and August are my least favorite months of the year. Now, if your birthday is in one of those months, just let me finish.

By all means my dislike is certainly because of the heat. Only the invention of air condition makes it bearable. We can thank Willis Haviland Carrier for this. The Apparatus for Treating Air (U.S. Pat# 808897) was granted in 1906 and the rest is history.

The "dog days of summer" is so named after a star, Sirius, the dog star. The name "dog star" came from the ancient Egyptians who called Sirius the dog star after their god Osirus, whose head in pictograms resembled that of a dog. The star was in conjunction with the Sun in the summer and ancient Egyptians and Romans argued that it was responsible for the summer heat by adding its heat to the heat from the Sun.


Well, for whatever reason, dog days of summer are hot! When our dog, Emma (above), was alive, she would lay down on the blacktop driveway just a huffing and puffing. I'd say, "Emma, get in the shade, and you'll be cooler."

Then it dawned on me that God tells me to stop huffing and puffing too: "Carol, get in the shade of my wings and be refreshed by My Word. My breath will flow through you and calm your temperature!

I listened! That's one of the things I do to refresh my summer days. Emma, though, still stayed in the sun.

A number of my friends have birthdays during this time. Thinking about them, setting a date with them or calling for a sweet conversation also refreshes my summer days. My friends are the stars in my life, and they bring refreshment to my soul. Happy Birthday to Lee, Mary, Stephanie, Helen, Mom, Peggy, Melody, Hanyin, Hilda, Joan, Linda and Cindy!

"Fawn watch" is another thing I do for refreshment. Early July I began to see fawn in the backyard, and while I'm driving. I've been granted many opportunities to snap pictures of fawn, one of my favorite subjects!


I added to my list of refreshment this year--my garden. I go out early in the morning to water and admire God's creation. Most of the plants are doing well. We purchased some new plants also! The bird baths need fresh water, and deer sometime come up to feed at the back gate. If I'm really lucky, I hear a rooster crow, bringing in the morning! As Sidney Poitier says in "The Last Brickmaker in America," "Yes, the rooster does like the morning!"



Another refreshment I have new this year is the beginning of a wildflower garden! I've always loved wildflowers, whether along the road or in a field. I've wanted to plant some for years, but it just didn't get done. This year it did!

Jerry plowed an area along the back fence, threw down the seeds and covered them with straw. We didn't know what we'd end up with, but I had hope. The first picture, at the top is the result! It needs to be filled in more, which we'll do late fall. But I now have a wildflower garden to enjoy!


July and August are refreshing days as I concentrate on those things that make me happy.

Yes, it's the dog days of summer as we move into July, but there is refreshment out there! I guarantee it!