Dog days are here

I'm celebrating 100 today...No, I'm not 100 years old, not even in doggie years, let alone human years (which would make me 700 doggie years)!

Today I celebrate my 100th post! In 5 days, I will be celebrating my first year blog anniversary. What an incredible journey it has been - it truly has been an experience that has made my life so much richer. Who knew that blogging could change lives?

After that little piece of news, let's move on to my next post on my Dog Series. Living in tropical sunny Malaysia, we only get rain or shine here. Never seen snow! Closest thing to it is probably an ice cube! So, I took great pleasure in reading your snow posts and seeing your snow white pictures.

We've had plenty of rain in the last couple of months. But, even as my friends in the Northern Hemisphere welcome spring, over here in Malaysia, I reckon the dog days are here. Dog days refer to the hottest period of the year (which, in Malaysia probably means for at least 6 - 9 months of the year).This term was used by the Greeks and the ancient Romans after the "Dog Star", Sirius. If you recall, Sirius is the brightest star, next to the sun. So, it makes sense that the hottest time of the year is called dog days.
Kess, enjoying a dog day evening

There are some pretty bizarre beliefs and practices relating to dog days. There was apparently a belief that dog days was an evil time "when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies". OK...let's take that one with a double pinch of salt. Another myth states that the ancients sacrificed a brown dog at the beginning of the dog days to appease the rage of Sirius, believing that the star was the cause of the hot, sultry weather. Yikes mum...I'm a brown tri-colour beagle...Do I need to hide out until it's safe? "Don't be silly, Kess...It's just a myth. Besides, we live in the 21st century" Phew!

Closer to current day, the term dog days apparently refer to poor performance of the the stock market. Typically, summer is supposedly a very slow time for the stock market. To top is off, poorly performing stocks with weak prospects are frequently known as "dogs". Given today's state of the global economy, looks like there are plenty of "dogs" out there!

Who knew that dog days could be used from describing the weather to the stock market - two topics that everyone talks about!

"Dog" Series
1. It's a dog's life
2. Fighting like cats and dogs(Beagle Identity Crisis)
3. Gone to the dogs
4. Let sleeping dogs lie
5. It's dogged as does it
6. The Underdog (vs. Top dog) (The Awesome Blog Award Nomination)
7. Every Dog Has Its Day
8. Dog Star
9. Hot Dog (Yikes...Man eats dog)