The Dog Days used to mark the start of the grain harvest; the first day of fall in the old calendar is August 1…Lammas, or Loaf-mass, when the first loaves of new bread were brought to the church for the sacrament.
In the old northern European calendar (used by the everyone but the Romans) the beginnings of seasons fell on the cross-quarter days…that is, the days mid-way between the solstices and equinoxes…because these corresponded to the agricultural cycle. Candlemass (Feb 2) (or imbolc in the Celtic) was the first day of spring and corresponded to lambing. May Day (Beltane) was the first day of summer and was the planting time. Loaf-mass or Lammas (Lughnasa, Aug 1) was the start of the harvest. All Hallows (Samhain) was the first day of winter when all was stored away.
Farmer’s Almanacs still have this info; I like to keep the old beginning and endings of the seasons ‘cause it makes more sense.
Huh, that’s cool. I’ve gone by the Old Norse schedule for a while now, they didn’t really separate things into four seasons, just summer and winter, but each month is named for what you do in that month or a characteristic. My favorite is górmanúðr, Slaughter Month (as in animals for winter storage, but it sounds cool).
Yes…there are three slaughtering times. The first is in February when lambs/kids are born. The males are killed for meat and then there’s milk from the ewes and nannies. Then the calf slaughtering later in the spring, same deal. Then in winter any fattened steers, pigs, or culled cows going into winter!
Having just two months in Scandinavia makes sense…it’s so far north!😬
I feel these! We’ve been in triple digits for a week and there’s no end in sight. I really love your mirage reference, and “sharp breaths in the oven’s mouth,” such a great line🖤
Love visiting Vegas for shows— was just there for the Dead’s Sphere run! Odd. I took you for a New Yorker. Was even going to invite you to meet up come September — perhaps at a bookstore for tea (or bubbly) and talk music, poetry, politics, and art.
Haha! Maybe it’s the music thing. People assume LA, NY, Nashville or Austin (where I lived for 22 years). We will connect— I’m sure of it. Maybe we can pull together a women of substack meetup online some time…
Let me lie bitten
Sleep sweat-stilled through molten hours
Barkless in the sun
So lovely, “molten hours” is so perfect🖤
I love, love this!
I thank you so so much
Flame on, ye bright star
And build the fire within me
Mind bursts with star's glow
Very cool! I love the last line!
Dogstar, Puppyplanet -
The orbit is awry, they say,
Scoundrel sun adrift, afire.
I love this! Like some cryptic interstellar missive🖤
Dog star rise, summer
Fades into memory. Now
The march to winter.
Really looking forward to winter 🥵 Love how you brought us around to the cycle of things, always good to remember when things get too hot🖤
The Dog Days used to mark the start of the grain harvest; the first day of fall in the old calendar is August 1…Lammas, or Loaf-mass, when the first loaves of new bread were brought to the church for the sacrament.
I’m mostly familiar with the Old Norse calendar, where the dog days fall very appropriately into Sólmanúðr, aka, Sun Month😂
In the old northern European calendar (used by the everyone but the Romans) the beginnings of seasons fell on the cross-quarter days…that is, the days mid-way between the solstices and equinoxes…because these corresponded to the agricultural cycle. Candlemass (Feb 2) (or imbolc in the Celtic) was the first day of spring and corresponded to lambing. May Day (Beltane) was the first day of summer and was the planting time. Loaf-mass or Lammas (Lughnasa, Aug 1) was the start of the harvest. All Hallows (Samhain) was the first day of winter when all was stored away.
Farmer’s Almanacs still have this info; I like to keep the old beginning and endings of the seasons ‘cause it makes more sense.
Huh, that’s cool. I’ve gone by the Old Norse schedule for a while now, they didn’t really separate things into four seasons, just summer and winter, but each month is named for what you do in that month or a characteristic. My favorite is górmanúðr, Slaughter Month (as in animals for winter storage, but it sounds cool).
Yes…there are three slaughtering times. The first is in February when lambs/kids are born. The males are killed for meat and then there’s milk from the ewes and nannies. Then the calf slaughtering later in the spring, same deal. Then in winter any fattened steers, pigs, or culled cows going into winter!
Having just two months in Scandinavia makes sense…it’s so far north!😬
I live in Las Vegas., the high desert. This is our fourth year celebrating 4th of July in LV so I'm intimately familiar with the dog days of summer.
las vegas sun flares
//pavement screams beneath hot feet//
mirage dances...bare
.
heat! waves ripple---air
sharp breaths in the oven's mouth
sky melts; blue to white
.
neon pulse, still bright
sizzling air hums electric
night can't cool the bones
.
mirage city glows...
shimmering in the heat's grip
sand whispers secrets
.
desert's fiery kiss
sears the soul, leaves no respite---
107...scorches
I feel these! We’ve been in triple digits for a week and there’s no end in sight. I really love your mirage reference, and “sharp breaths in the oven’s mouth,” such a great line🖤
Thank you. I love LV even in the dog days of summer.
And where are my manners? The poem radiates Vegas!
I write about Las Vegas all the time. Almost every day I learn something new and unique about the city and the mountains surrounding it.
How did I not pick up on this? Seeing your work with fresh eyes.
LOL. Living here does impact my writing for the good and the bad.
Mirage hotel to tumble in time. Baked beans flatten pancakes. Waffles weave with desert dry heat while soles of feet melt slots to hot to handle.
Mirage volcano gone up in smoke. Literally.
Gloria. Mirage volcano gone? July 4th demo?
The Mirage has new owners. It is being extensively renovated including dismantling the iconic volcano.
Love visiting Vegas for shows— was just there for the Dead’s Sphere run! Odd. I took you for a New Yorker. Was even going to invite you to meet up come September — perhaps at a bookstore for tea (or bubbly) and talk music, poetry, politics, and art.
For some reason I thought you lived in Los Angeles
Haha! Maybe it’s the music thing. People assume LA, NY, Nashville or Austin (where I lived for 22 years). We will connect— I’m sure of it. Maybe we can pull together a women of substack meetup online some time…
We visit NYC on a regular basis and I would love to meet you! We are coming next week for a week of business and pleasure.
Feline guardians
Poised, taming the dogs of war
Bane of Sirius
I also love “bane of Sirius” what a great line🖤
Bane of Sirius. That is good!
Thx! I have my moments 😆
Only mad dogs and
Englishmen venture outside.
For me, central air.
Oh me too. Didn’t know that about Englishmen😂
Ra,Ra,Ra the sun rises
Canis beside Master. ahead
Rise Nile rise.
Mountain’s flood;
Crocodile’s feed downriver
On heat prostration dead.
Oh very dark ending, and I love the first line, too🖤
The sweltering Sun,
So deadly in many ways,
Yet so seductive... 😎
Mm seductive huh? All that fun in the sun🖤
It claims to be our friend, but it would burn us all if it had the chance! Haha... 😎
Blame the dogs, will ya?
My canine superheroine Cerberus' patriarchal line is alien dogs from the area around Sirius.
Oh I love it! Mixing Greek myths and outer space, how cool!
My t(w)inkling Dog Star
Held firm by celestial leash
Bares teeth toward Dawn.
This is a brilliant image! I love it🖤
Climate change is now
Floods, storms, ecosystems’ shift
Heat will kill you first
Feeling it, we’re in the middle of a heat wave, twoish weeks of triple digit temps. My AC bill might also kill me😅
Yeah, we just got our attic insulated, and it has been fantastic for our AC in the heat