Dog Days of Summer

The Dog Days of Summer, a period of 40 days starting July 3rd and ending August 11th, "are named for the Dog Star, Sirius, which is visible with the rising Sun at this time. Ancients associated this sky picture with the hot days that coincided with it."
-  The Farmer's Almanac

Summertime: Quotes, Poems, Sayings, Lore 

Lately, our temperatures in Red Bluff, California, have been in the upper 90's F during the day and in the low 70's F at night. Today, our temperatures in the North Sacramento Valley near Red Bluff are predicted to be 92F high and 65F low.  

During the hottest part of the day, in the afternoon, both Karen and I retreat indoors and read, write, nap, listen to music, watch TV and rest.  To stay cool in our study/office/library/media center, we use an evaporative cooler (swamp cooler) and fan. We let our big black dog, a 150 lb Rottweiler, come indoors and lie on the cooler floor of our study. 

Yesterday, I worked on my new webpage on the Yi Jin Jing Qigong or Muscle and Tendon Transforming Classic Exercises. 

I get up very early, around 4:30 am.  I walk and exercise outdoors starting at around 5:15 am.  I work outdoors on gardening and home improvement projects in the morning hours until around noon.  I can work outdoors even in the hottest part of the day for 60-90 minutes, then I must retreat and rest in the shade and drink glasses of cool water.  

"That beautiful season the Summer!
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light;
And the landscape
Lay as if newly created in all the freshness of childhood."
-   Henry Wadsworth Longfellow