Granny’s Advice About The Dog Days of Summer
Lord have mercy, it’s HOT.
And I don’t mean the weather app says it “feels like” 100 degrees.
I mean actual temperatures over 100 degrees.
We’ve had 14 straight days of it here, and Thursday topped out at 112 degrees.
Granny would have called these the Dog Days of Summer.
And Granny had rules about the Dog Days.
One I remember was:
“Stay out of the briars and high weeds once the Dog Days set in.”
According to folk lore, something changed when those hottest days of summer arrived.
The air got heavy. The creeks got low and still. Dogs didn’t have good sense. Wounds didn’t heal like they should.
And the snakes?
Lord help us.
The old-timers said snakes went blind during Dog Days and would strike at anything that disturbed them.
Now, before you start sending me all kinds of stuff about snakes…
I know, thatcopperheads don’t actually go blind during Dog Days.
That part belongs to the wonderful collection of old-time folklore handed down from one generation to another.
But Granny wasn’t about to wade into a briar patch to prove anybody wrong.
And neither am I… I HATE snakes, doesn’t make any difference what kind… a snake is a snake and they’re bad! Just look what happened to Eve… she trusted a snake and look where we are today!
But, underneath a lot of Granny’s old sayings was something pretty valuable:
Common sense.
When an Arkansas summer gets this brutally hot, maybe we should slow down a little.
- Drink more water.
- Stay out of the hottest part of the day.
- Keep our pets somewhere cool.
- Check on somebody who might need checking on.
And stay out of those high weeds because, blind or not, I don’t particularly want to meet a copperhead.
As for me, life is continuing right along.
Radiation last Friday.
Treatment #2 was remarkably uneventful — less than 20 minutes from undressing to getting dressed again. I felt nothing, wasn’t tired afterward, slept great that night and woke up Saturday feeling wonderful.
So far, so good.
Then it was making Cedar & Castor Oil Shampoo Bars on Saturday.
Church on Sunday.
And Granny’s briar patches?
I’m leaving those alone altogether.
It’s funny…
This year has taught me that life doesn’t always look the way we thought it would.
Sometimes there’s a doctor’s appointment on Friday and a batch of homemade shampoo bars on Saturday.
BUT, ordinary life keeps happening in between.
And these days, I think I’m more grateful for those wonderfully ordinary days than I ever was before.
So stay cool, friends…
- Drink your water.
- Mind where you step.
- And if Granny tells you to stay out of the briars…
I’d listen to Granny.
As long as God gives me another sunrise, He isn’t finished writing my story. And that means He’s not finished with yours either.
Know someone who could use a little Granny wisdom today? Share this with them — then come join the conversation with me on Facebook.
Next – xxxxxxxx