Dog days of summer

Ever wonder about the phrase "dog days"?  It is mentioned by the ancient Greeks.  The Romans believed that Sirius, which they called the Dog Star because it was the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major, caused the hot sticky weather.  During the hottest months of the year the star used to rise about the same time as the sun.  That is no longer true because of the precession of equinoxes, but that's another subject.  The Roman's supposedly sacrificed a brown dog to appease Sirius, my guess a chocolate lab.

During the dog days here our two GWPs and the Vizsla sleep much of the time, so still that the sound of their breathing is the only way I know they’re still alive.  Early mornings and late in the day they get their walks, usually somewhere that there is water that they can swim in.  Young turkeys are strutting about in the woods behind the house this time of the year and the dogs love to chase them up into the trees.  Lately there have two or three peacocks that have joined the turkey flocks, but they don’t hold much better for a point than the turkeys do.  I have to wonder if the turkeys and peacocks ever interbreed and what they would look like.  And how they’d taste?