Week 30 - 2014 in Images

Day 204 - Waiting

The fullness of summer was upon us in this last week. And everywhere it was evident be it in the napping of cats in the windows or the last poppy blooming in the front yard.

Day 205 - Last Poppy of the summer

The poppies were a gift this summer. Seldom do they bloom as fully and for so long. Their large and delicate petals fall victim to the storms of summer. But while the monsoons came they fell gently until after the last blossom was spent.

Day 206 - In all their glory

And then came the hollyhocks planted in the lee of the studio and under an eave to keep the hail from shredding their beauty.

Day 207 - First Hollyhock

Each morning any cloud which lingered from the rains of yesterday began to gather and build into the deliverer of rain in the late afternoons.

Day 208 - Gathering Clouds

And the moist air after the months of drought was absorbed by every living thing.

Day 209 - Red Cabbage

And wildflowers which had not bloomed in such abundance for years turned the fields purple, and sometimes, it seemed, the very air.

Day 210 - The fence line

And so we near the last days of July.

Mag 75 - Dog Days

Dog Days

I sat on the top step of the porch

Partaking of my second glass of iced coffee

And watched the clouds boil

Over the nearby hills

Their dark bottoms hinting

At a possible relief to the drought.

Dad had called these the dog days

He grew up in the sultry south

I in the intra mountain west

For me dog days were those where we prayed for rain

And the dogs cowered under the porch

As protection from the thunder clouds.

The horizon is lit by bolts of lightning

The purr kids dash up the steps

Past me into the studio flicking their tails

Yes, I am an idiot, I say to the dogs hiding beneath me

But I love the smell of ozone in the air

The hint of damp in the breeze.

As the first huge drops of rain fall

I surrender my position

Hoping it is not for just a promise this time

Let the sky open up and christen the earth

Please dog days

Bring the drenching rains.

J. Binford-Bell

July 2011

Notes: 

The dog days are the most sultry days of summer. The actual dates vary greatly from region to region, depending on latitude and climate. Dog Days can also define a time period or event that is very hot or stagnant, or marked by dull lack of progress. The name comes from the ancient belief that Sirius, also called the Dog Star, in close proximity to the sun was responsible for the hot weather.

Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. With a visual apparent magnitude of −1.46, it is almost twice as bright as Canopus, the next brightest star. The name "Sirius" is derived from the Ancient Greek Σείριος Seirios ("glowing" or "scorcher"). The star has the Bayer designation Alpha Canis Majoris (α CMa). What the naked eye perceives as a single star is actually a binary star system, consisting of a white main sequence star of spectral type A1V, termed Sirius A, and a faint white dwarf companion of spectral type DA2, termed Sirius B. The distance separating Sirius A from its companion varies between 8.1 and 31.5 AU.