Dog daze of summer and hurricane season

cj Sez: The dog days of summer were historically the period following the heliacal (sunrise) of the star Dog Star, Sirius. Sirius is one star in a group of stars that form the constellation Canis Major, meaning “Greater Dog.”

   Greek and Roman astrology connected Sirius to heat, drought, sudden thunderstorms, lethargy, fever, mad dogs, and bad luck. For Egyptians (according to the Farmer’s Almanac), “Sirius came into view just before the Nile River’s flood season. They used Sirius as a 'watchdog' for that event. Because it also coincided with a time of extreme heat, the connection with hot, sultry weather was made for all of time! Some ancient peoples believed the summer swelter was due to the combined heat from Sirius and the sun. The name Sirius means ‘scorching’ in Greek.”

   The Farmer’s Almanac also says, “the 40 days beginning July 3 and ending August 11” are the traditional timing of the Dog Days. It also says that “some of our hottest and most humid days happen after August 11.” Seems there’s a lot more hellacious heat and humidity to come…so we have that going for us.

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Here’s an offer to cool you down, at least visually.

   You-all guys know it’s Hurricane Season on the Gulf Coast, don’t you? Well, have I got a deal for you. The HOMETOWN HEROES Christmas anthology is available at the low, low price of 99 cents (one week only, folks) or free on Kindle Unlimited.

And you’ll be getting a two-fer!

   Part of the proceeds from the sale of the book go to the Cajun Navy, those hometown heroes who trailer their personal boats to hurricane devastated areas to help those in need. And they do their incredible volunteerism on their own nickel. You can help out and read some wonderful stories at the same time by buying this book—the stories are lovely reads for any time of the year.

   Discover the role this fox plays in my story, “Hobbes House Noel,” one of the five romance stories in the anthology. (Well, actually not THIS fox. This photo was taken in my back yard.)

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   That’s it for this week’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj

By the way, if you read/heard about the U.S. Navy ship that recently destroyed an Iranian drone by laser, I found that amazing because I proposed that concept in DEADLY STAR in 2008. To read what else I wrote about, the novel is still available free on Kindle Unlimited here:  https://amzn.to/30JqTMq

For your summertime/beach reading pleasure, stop by my Amazon Central Author Page = https://amzn.to/2v6SrAj 

To order an autographed copy of DEADLY STAR, CHOOSING CARTER, HOMETOWN HEROES, and THE POSSE, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: The Haunted Bookshop  Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and a RITA Award-winning author in her own right (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you the book(s) of your choice, and I shall be forever grateful.

Visit me on Facebook at:  cjpetterson/author on Facebook