The Dog Days of Summer

"Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it."  Russel Baker

I decided this year I was not going to let the heat get me down.  I would, one way or another, find a way to be positive about it.  It’s hard as I watch my potted annuals wither daily with the midday heat and the grass and weeds take over the garden because my motivation to stifle them dries up.  I have to water every other day just to keep the grass a light brown color, and the 100 plus temperature days are increasing…it’s not as bad as last year, but it’s early yet…oh darn it, there I go being negative again…

My step-father used to say “We are in the dog days of summer”.  I don’t know why I remember that, but once when we were at the lake fishing I remember him saying that while warning me to watch where I walk because of the danger of snakes sunning themselves on the rocks nearby.  My memories of the summers of my childhood are really good ones.  I went outside “to play” first thing and stayed until dusk, sometimes later.  We camped, fished, swam, ran down a rock alley with no shoes to climb on top of the concession stand at the baseball field, and spent weeks and sometimes months with our favorite cousins and relatives.  I don’t remember the heat being such an issue back then…

Wilkipedia says “Dog Days are the hottest, most sultry days of summer.  In the Northern Hemisphere, the  dog days of summer are most commonly experienced in the months of July and August, which typically observe the warmest summer temperatures. In the Southern Hemisphere, they typically occur in January and February, in the midst of the austral summer. The name comes from the ancient belief that Sirius, also called the Dog Star, in close proximity to the sun was responsible for the hot weather.”

God tells us to be thankful in all circumstances.  So here are a few things I am thankful for this summer:

• My garden busting out at the seams
• Watching my granddaughters at the splash pad
• Sunflowers
• Long days
• Another birthday
• A fresh pedicure tucked into flip flops
• Flip flops
• Visiting national parks
• Sno-cones
• Sound of the ice cream truck in my neighborhood
• Fresh herbs
• Blowing bubbles
• Fresh, ripe tomatoes
• A cool breeze on a hot day
• Swimming

Most of all, I am thankful to God for giving me another summer so that I can marvel at the beauty of life in full bloom.

“Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus” 

1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT