I happen to like researching the origins of words, phrases, and sayings. Which brings me back to the hottest part of the Summer. Everyone has some saying or the other. Some refer to frying eggs on the sidewalk. Others just have a few choice curse words for the heat. Have you ever wondered where the expression, "The dog days of Summer" came from? Interestingly enough it has it's origins in Egypt. First you have to turn the clock back about four thousand years. In the days of Pharaohs the happenings in the sky were just as important has the things on the ground. One of the brightest stars in the night is Sirius. Sirius is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major. Obviously, that translates to Big Dog. You see male testosterone has been around for a very long time. At the time of the Pharaohs the constellation and the Big Dog star rose in the East just before the rising of the Sun from mid July to mid August. Being the sky watchers that they were, they knew that Sirius (the brightest star) was in the sky at the same time as the Sun. This lead to the belief that the Big Dog Star was adding to the heat of the day. So the four weeks from mid July to mid August were referred to as "The dog days of Summer" because of the influence of the star known as the Big Dog.
The Sirius star no longer rises at that time because everything in the universe is in constant motion. We now know that other stars add almost zero radiant heat to Earth, but it is incredible to see how much detail these ancient people noticed about the world around them. Do you pay attention to the details around you? Do you know what time of year some stars are visible and others are not? I wonder how many people in Louisiana notice that New Orleans and Northern Egypt are very near the same latitude? The same angle of the Sun that bakes Egypt, bakes Louisiana.
We are so quick to write off other people's customs or beliefs. Yet we weave their sayings, expressions, and phrases into our everyday language. Be curious, and ask your parents and grandparents about things instead of watching YouTube. While technology makes us more advanced, in some ways it causes us to not look around our world and see the incredible spectacle that surrounds us. Sometimes it's good to just turn off the TV and be an Egyptian and watch the stars rotate in the night. After all in the Dog Days of Summer, the night is much cooler than the day.
