Dog Days

A time for camp chores and reflection.

Hunting Camp during the Dog Days. You won’t see our hunting camp in Better Homes & Gardens, but it is a real deal cabin in the woods that has been changing lives for more than 60 years.

You don’t hear folks talk about the Dog Days much anymore, probably because most folks don’t know what Dog Days are. My grandfather knew what Dog Days were, and that’s when he liked to drag us young boys up to the camp to do what he called work. Grandpa’s “work” amounted to him sitting in the shade and us working. We did it all, from burning brush, digging rocks out of the ground, cutting and stacking firewood, and what ever else grandpa felt needed done.

The phrase "dog days of summer" is actually a reference to a star — The Dog Star —Sirius, which is part of the constellation, Canis Major. Back in olden days this brightest star was thought of as hot, which is exactly what the dog days of summer are. Humans noticed a rise in temperature after the summer solstice — which was about the same time the star began to rise with the sun — so they logically assumed the heat was from the Dog Star. This 40 day time frame runs from the 3rd of July until the 11th of August.