The Dog Days of Summer.   Why not the Cat Days?  Or the Pig Days?  Dogs aren’t the only creatures uncomfortable in oppressive heat, so why does a dog get singled out in “dog days”?

I learned today that the “dog” here is actually the Dog Star, which is also called “Sirius.” The star has long been associated with sultry weather in the northern hemisphere because it rises simultaneously with the sun during the hottest days of summer. In the ancient Greek constellation system, this star (called “Seirios” in Greek) was considered the hound of the hunter Orion and was given the epithet “Kyon,” meaning “dog.

Well, folks.  That little dog above is my Dog Star.  Sirius-ly.  (One of them, at least.)