Memories of past Dog Days of summer

August, like any month of the year, has many distinct, identifiable properties. Common weather patterns appear during this second full month of summer, the most obvious being extreme heat. The atmosphere often takes on a particular set of qualities, that have been associated with the nickname, "Dog Days." August also has many activities and memories that are unique mostly to this month.

The month was named in honor of the Emperor Augustus. The Romans are responsible for most of the names of our months, because they added months and names when designing the new "Julian" calendar.

Very often in August in southwest Missouri, the temperature rises consistently to long hot days above 90 degrees. 100 plus degree temperatures are not uncommon during this month.

Our annual rainfall averages about 40 inches of precipitation each year. About half of that falls during spring and early summer. Thunderstorms are common up to about the Fourth of July, but from then until fall, hot and dry is generally the weather pattern.

There is a particular air quality that develops as well, known as a "temperature inversion." An upper layer of air becomes stagnant, trapping stale air below. Hot summer days with no winds result in a "hazy" condition. The term "Dog Days" appears to have been so named, because this time coincides with the rising of the constellation Orion and its Dog Star, Sirius (Wikipedia).

I have many memories from my youth that connect to the month of August. Two fond recollections relate to farming. My first 10 years were spent on a farm in southern Vernon County.

Our farm was comprised mostly of natural virgin prairie. In late July and early August of each year, the hay was cut and stored for the winter. Hay hauling was a summer job for lots of kids back then.

Today hay is still cut and baled in late summer, but there are not many small hay bales to haul anymore. When you drive around Vernon County, you will see countless fields, filled with the new large round bales.

Another August date that was marked on my calendar each year during my youth was the 15th. That was the day that "two-a-day" football practices were allowed to begin in Missouri.

School didn't begin until the Tuesday after Labor Day each year, when I was a kid. This year, I think that the R-5 calendar begins on August 20. We did not have spring break when I was in school, so that extra week added to the calendar, is one of the reasons for the early start.

Those August football practices were like a rite of passage. In today's world, coaches pay a lot of attention to the health related conditions of the Dog Days. Frequent water breaks and close observation for heat prostration are necessary.

There is a romantic notion by many of my fellow baby boomers, that those "good old days of football" were better. That is simply not true. We were treated horribly and dangerously back then.

It was common practice during the 60s, to hold practices for more than two hours. We were given salt tablets and one ice break. When I say ice break, that is accurate. A couple of bags of ice were set out halfway through practice. You were lucky if you managed to grasp a couple of chunks to quench your thirst, and try to cool down. We were told it would make us "tough!"

School rules were a bit different in those days as well. There was not a single air-conditioned building in the R-5 system. We were not allowed to wear shorts, so we had to suffer through sweltering classrooms, mostly attired in the brand new "blue jeans" our parents had purchased for the new school year. I can still remember those archaic tilt-in widows on the second floor of the high school. Dog Days didn't allow for even a breath of air to pass through.

One other farm memory from my late summer Dog Days was that of the silage fields. Most of the farmers in our "neck of the woods," had cattle herds. They raised a feed crop called sorghum. This crop was cut when it was still green, and then placed in one of two types of silos.

Some farmers had vertical silos that are still commonly seen around our area. Our farm, like many from that time, had what was called a "pit silo." A pit silo was a three-sided dugout trench. When the sorghum was cut, it was dumped into the trench, and then covered to allow it to ferment. Cattle love silage during the winter, whether it is from a pit or vertical silo.

Some of my favorite memories from those Dog Days were the crews that "put up" hay and silage. My Grandmother and the other women also looked forward to those days. They cooked huge dinners for the hay and silage "hands."

The men would eat vast quantities of food, and drink large glasses of southern style "sweet tea." Afterwards, they would often find a shade tree to lie beneath for a few minutes, before returning to the fields.

School districts did not overly worry about attendance during the Dog Days, in farming communities. If there was hay and silage to put up, boys commonly "skipped" classes to help on the farms.

We will soon be in the "Dog Days" of August. While I will fondly remember those football and farming days from my youth, I have no desire to return in any fashion, other than in my memories.

I've grown quite used to air conditioning. Even when my fellow seniors and I head to the golf course, we try to do so early in the morning. There is no way we want to tee it up during the afternoon "Dog Days!"