INSPIRED BY SUMMER

Hello there!

Well, according to the Farmer’s Almanac, the dog days of summer are officially over! “Dog days” traditionally means the hottest part of summer but really (as the Almanac explained to me) refers to the time of year when the sun occupies the same region of the sky as the star Sirius. Although this time varies depending on the year, the dog days of summer are traditionally considered to fall between July 3 and August 11 in the northern hemisphere. The important point is that Sirius, sometimes called the Dog Star, is part of the constellation Canis Major, the Greater Dog.

Ha ha! You never know what you might learn when you follow my blog!

Summer is the theme, and this month’s poem was inspired by something that struck me during last summer’s Olympic Games. So even if the hottest part summer is apparently behind us, I hope you can pause and revisit the slow, somnolent “dog days” as you read what summer inspired me to write. Here is “Relay.”

Lee Ann

P. S.  (This month’s poem is the second of two of my poems that won Honourable Mention in the Canadian Authors Association (NCR Branch) 2017 national contest. The other winner is here.)