Dog days  We're in them. Right now. The dog days are all around
us. I had always thought, simplistically, that they were called
the dog days because, as August descends, you are (or, at least,
I am) poleaxed by the desire to lie stretched out in a patch of
sun, rising only to lap from a bowl of water or to be patted on
the head. The month demands slowness and limited brainpower, a
general state of beatific passivity. With effort, I could chase
a rabbit.  But they're called dog days not, surprisingly,
because I want to reduce my levels of physical activity and
mental agility to those of a dog. No, it goes back to the
Romans, like most things. (Those Romans - fingers in
everything.) They called the star Sirius the "Dog Star" because
it was the brightest in the Canis Major (Large Dog)
constellation. The dog days (or dies caniculares) became known
as the sweaty, sweltering period - usually from early July to
September - when Sirius rose at the same time as the sun.  To
appease Sirius, the Romans would sacrifice a