DOG DAYS...

“Every dog has his day” – Popular saying

I am in Brisbane again for work and this is the perfect time for being here, weather-wise. While Melbourne is in the clutches of Winter, Brisbane enjoys mild temperatures of 24-25˚C and beautiful sunny, warm days. It is just after 7:30 in the morning and I am looking out of the hotel window at the sunlit parks and gardens and listening to the dulcet tones of Yvonne Kenny singing Purcell’s “O, Let Me Weep”.
"O let me weep, for ever weep, My Eyes no more shall welcome Sleep; I'll hide me from the sight of Day, And sigh, and sigh my Soul away. He's gone, he's gone, his loss deplore; And I shall never see him more."

Here is the piece from YouTube, with an introduction about the opera, the song given by the performer, Yvonne Kenny, before the video of this aria. The aria itself begins at the 2:02 time mark.



The Dog Days begin today. These were hot and (according to the Romans) unhealthy days that were heralded by the ascent of Sirius, the Dog Star. These days lasted from today until about the 11th of August. Many cultures considered the “Dog Days” to have a baleful influence on humans. During these days it was considered wise to “abstain from the company of women”, “not let blood or take physic” and “seeth well your meals and take heed of feeding violently”. Sirius is the brightest star in the sky and was very important in many ancient cultures. The Ancient Egyptians, for example, calculated the annual flooding of the Nile with the aid of the ascent of Sirius. The rising of Sirius has over the centuries come at a later and later date, presently rising in late August. Hence the “Dog Days” of the Romans no longer correspond with the rising of Sirius. The term is still strongly entrenched in the language and many people still regard the superstition of these days with some concern.

Aptly for our Word Thursday, therefore:

dog days, plural noun
the hottest period of the year (reckoned in antiquity from the heliacal rising of Sirius, the Dog Star).
• a period of inactivity or sluggishness: In August the baseball races are in the dog days.
ORIGIN: from Latin, caniculares dies (days of the dogs).