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The Dog Days of Summer

© Sharon Tabor Warren

We've heard that term all our lives. Did you ever wonder how the miserable hot, sultry weather, normally attributed to July and August, received the name "Dog Days?" As with many of our words, legends and inventions, we have the Romans to thank for coining the term.

The ancient people, who wore cool white togas and wove leafy vines into headdresses, noted that the brightest star in the night sky--Sirius--appeared each year at the onset of the scorching and sweltering days of summer. The word Sirius actually stems from the Greek word for "scorcher." Sirius became known as the Dog Star, hence the weather came to be known as the "dog days." The Romans further believed the star actually caused the miserable weather and they sacrificed brown dogs to appease the rage of Sirius.

Today we can chuckle at the tale and some of us can take refuge in our air-conditioned homes. Unfortunately, many of us cannot. Air-conditioning is not a household world in most corners of the globe.

How do we stay cool and comfortable when temperatures rise to the one-hundred degree mark and above, often with the relative humidity percentage not far behind? There are ways--many of them have been with us for years.

When I was a child on the California desert (with water coolers as our only source of relief) we beat the heat by:
* Not cooking or eating foods served hot
* Performing only low-activity tasks during the hotter part of the day
* Swimming at the community pool
* Going to the movies (the theatre was one of the few air-conditioned buildings)
* Drinking water with a squeeze of lemon to better quench the thirst (now an "in" drink)
* Wearing cool, comfortable and cotton clothing; going barefoot inside
* Pulling shades and drapes early in the morning and not re-opening until dark

Many of these ideas of yesteryear still serve us well. Expand on the basics with a little imagination:
* Melons and fresh fruits make wonderful cool meals. Cold soup, such as gazpacho (http://soar.berkeley.edu/recipes/soups/c... can be a real refresher. Raw vegetables--carrots, cucumbers, cauliflower, tomatoes--or a tossed salad with cold meats and/or cheeses are healthful and filling. Meals should be much lighter during hot weather because as our activity declines we burn fewer calories. If your taste buds demand something served hot, consider a meal out.
* Rise early and get tasks such as laundry or vacuuming done before the day's heat sets in. Don't worry overmuch about household chores--they'll still be there when the temperatures fall!

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