The Dog Days of Summer are Upon Us!

Welcome to Wednesday, deep into the 'Dog Days' of summer, on this July 16, 2008. Like most figures of speech, 'Dog Days of summer' has been around many years. It is believed to have been initially connected to the time of the year when Sirius, the Dog Star, rose at the same time of the sunrise. In very ancient times these days of the dogs were thought to be associated with evil. As late as the early 1800's, one writer described these days in this way: "..when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies." Today we use it to describe those sultry days of summer where you wake up hot and stay hot all day. The Common Book of Prayer set them in 1552 as beginning July 6 and going through August 17. At any rate, welcome to our version of the dog days of summer!

I somehow think for us that live in this region of the country that these days probably start earlier and stay longer. Generally speaking this area of Texas is known as the most air conditioned of any in the world. They say that well over 90% of the area homes and businesses has air conditioning and they run more and longer than anywhere else in the world. One expert on this subject made this comment about our area: "Without Freon, we would be dead." There's probably truth to that statement but we all have to remember that A/C was not always the norm for folks even in this area. But it has become a necessity in the environment where we live and work with dire consequences for those who have to live without it.

That's one reason I truly admire the fellows that work here in our manufacturing facility. No A/C. We do have large fans and other air movement devices but no A/C. With temperatures hovering around 100 degrees day after day, their ability to persevere and keep production flowing is impressive. I walk the property several times a day and I can tell you, it is flat out HOT! What's the biggest reason? It's called humidity!!!! Back in the day when I ran a large organization I've had people relocate into this area and after a few months they packed up and moved because of what they called the intolerable humidity coupled to the sultry super heated temperatures. On the other hand, I have a neighbor who moved across the street some 10 years ago from upstate New York, and he says all he has to do is remember shoveling six feet of snow to cure any concerns over the heat here.

I guess it comes down to a matter of perspective and perseverance. The Dog Days here mean higher electric bills and especially so since fuel has gone out of sight. My heart breaks every time I hear of the far too often tragic outcome from those who leave a child in a car to suffer from these oppressive temperatures. Just the other day I drove into our drive way and in the process of getting our grandson out of the backseat I was stunned in how quickly it became very hot. I was reminded at that time of just how serious this situation can be. We grew up without air conditioning just over into Louisiana but we did have fans to help stir the air. We didn't really know we were missing it because we didn't have something to compare to. We did know how miserable it could be to try and sleep during one of those long nights of the Dog Days of summer. We can and should be thankful to God for the conveniences we have today. That's why we need to be careful in wishing for a return to the 'good ole days', because to tell you the truth, I'm not too excited about returning to some of what we had in those 'good ole days'. But we thank God for them then, for the ones we have now, and for His provision throughout our days! Amen. ........More later.