The Dog Days of Summer

There is no getting around it. It is just really, really hot. I don’t feel like we have the right to complain. We had an amazing spring. The weather was cool and beautiful all the way through early June. We knew it couldn’t last. And when it hit, it hit hard. And it isn’t even a dry heat. When I stepped outside a store the other day to take a cell phone call, I heard locusts buzzing in the air, sweat started dripping and my hair began curling within seconds, like I hadn’t spent those 20 minutes with the flat iron that morning. I felt like I was back in Texas! We may not have the right to complain, but complain we do.

They call these the dog days of summer, but even my dogs look at me like I am crazy if I try to walk them. It is 105 degrees at 10 pm when I am ready for a walk. They are looking a little pudgy from lack of exercise. Come to think of it, so am I.

In our office, we are all a bit sluggish, so this is when we pull out the Wii, dust off the remotes and have our annual Wii bowling tournament. A bracket is drawn up; games are played until the final four are decided. We have a big party for the semi-finals. This year it was a pizza lunch party. We make signs and cheer for our favorites. There are no ranks in the tournament. It is file clerk against attorney, no mercy!  There are gift cards for the final four, the winner’s name on a plaque and a trophy.

This really helps us all perk up a little, makes us all laugh for a while, and forget that it is a million degrees outside. We get to cheer each other on, eat some pizza and ice cream and be goofy for a few hours. And then we get in our cars to go home and burn our hands. And we remember that yes, these are still the dog days of summer. And no, it’s really not a dry heat.