Up here in the northern hemisphere we are in the dog days of summer. Although we may envision dogs lying about lazing in the sun, the phrase dog days of summer refers to the days of July and August when the star Sirius rises alongside the Sun. Sirius is part of the Canis Major constellation which means the Greater Dog. With the star Sirius being so bright, the ancient Romans believed that it gave off additional heat and the days from early July until mid-August became known as the dog days of summer.
On a walk yesterday morning on my folks’ property, my dog and I enjoyed inspecting an apple tree which now has medium size green apples on it. They were too high up for me to reach but I took a photo and continued on. We made our way through the grapevine covered old arbour. There were mosquitoes and horseflies flying around us and landing on my dog’s ears and head and so I was continuously brushing them off of him.
Apple Tree
Grapevine Covered Arbour
As we approached the shrub garden, I vaguely wondered if there would be coyotes there. Just then I saw movement, but instead of a coyote it was a wild turkey family. My dog gave a low bark. One of the adult turkeys flew up a short distance into the lower branches of a tree and the other turkeys including the small ones, rushed off into the trees. It was beautiful to come across them on our morning walk.
Seeing red berries on the honeysuckle shrub, I recalled the lovely red currents that I had enjoyed earlier this summer and which were from the same shrub garden. I wasn’t sure if the honeysuckle berries were poisonous or not but I’d never heard of anyone eating them so I didn’t dare try.
Honeysuckle with Berries
We ambled over to where my father was cutting grass just off the driveway and had a chat and then continued on to one of the trails that we love. It runs near the front of the property and then down along one side. However that day, there were many spider’s webs across the path with spiders in them, and I ended up brushing the sticky webs off of myself despite ducking and dodging as many spider webs as I could as we walked. After we emerged from the trail out of the trees, I felt that the heat and humidity were starting to get to my dog, so we returned into my folks’ house where he could drink the cool well water.
A Walk with my Dog
I love these summer days and walking with my dog, usually early in the morning or in the evenings to avoid the worst of the heat. I love the roses that bloom in my own garden and going outside to my backyard to pick the lemon balm and spearmint that grow there and which I love to eat with my morning fruit. My nieces visited me last week and I was able to show my younger niece how if you rub the lemon balm leaves with your fingers it smells like lemon, and the spearmint leaves smell like mint. Passing on any information about gardening and plants to younger generations, and in turn learning myself from the older generation and more experienced gardeners, makes me feel good and reminds me that I have roots that run deep and strengthens my sense of interconnection.
I feel that as I get older time speeds up too much and the seasons pass very quickly. Knowing that all too soon the weather will turn cooler and fall is fast approaching with winter hard on its heels, means that I am savouring every moment that I can of these lovely dog days of summer.