The Dog Days of Summer...

Did you know that there is an official time frame assigned to the Dog Days of Summer?  I had no idea the saying was based on an annual astronomical event that occurs after the summer solstice when the star, Sirius (aka, the Dog Star), rises and sets with the sun.  Behind the sun, from the view of earth, Sirius was thought by ancient astronomers to add to or increase the heat that the sun produced.  In the northern hemisphere, the official time frame for all this is July 3 - August 11.

So... the dog days of summer are officially past, but it still feels miserably hot and humid - I'm assuming throughout most of the US, at least.  I know you folks in the southwest and west experience plenty of heat, but I imagine you chuckle at us mid-westerners, (and I expect mid- and south-easterners) who complain about wilting when the humidity coincides with pretty much anything above 80 degrees.  

Having written all that, though, I've noticed in recent days that neither our temps, nor our humidity in central Indiana have actually been terribly high, but it feels oppressive outside for some reason. I've also noticed on my weather app that the air quality during the daytime hours has been poor here in recent days.  Maybe our atmosphere has been affected by the Canadian forest fires more than the eye could prove?  Whether it is or not, it has to be mild compared to what our northern neighbors are experiencing.  

Cicadas are riotous (day and evening), so much so they almost drown out my ever present tinnitus - that sounds remarkably like cicadas on a still summer evening.  I find their translucent exoskeletons scattered throughout the garden plants.  It's a little unsettling to push the leaves aside as I hunt for green beans and be greeted by the dried up shape of fat cicadas.  I don't know how many times I've reached for one thinking it's a dried leaf that needs to be plucked only to realize at the last minute it's cicada skin.  Ick.

I wish this was a better picture, but you can perhaps see how in my peripheral vision, I sometimes start to pluck these cicada skins off thinking they're dead leaves.

And sweat bees or hoverflies (I cannot tell which they are) have become an ever-present nuisance in recent weeks.  Everywhere - even in town.  After coming in from the garden, I still twitch and itch imaging I'm feeling them buzzing around or crawling on me. 

Heat and humidity and insects aside, it has been a good summer for us.  More on that in another post.  Still experiencing wonky internet service, I am going to try to catch up with my fellow bloggers while the signals are flowing.