Did you know that the origin of the phrase “the dog days of summer” actually has nothing to do with dogs lying around in the heat, being lazy like this guy?
Of course, I had to look this up and as it turns out the “dog days” refer to the times of the ancient Greeks and Romans and the dog star, Sirius. From National Geographic:
To the Greeks and Romans, the “dog days” occurred around the day when Sirius appeared to rise just before the sun, in late July. They referred to these days as the hottest time of the year, a period that could bring fever, or even catastrophe.
In Portugal this summer, the dog days have brought huge forest fires. In June, 64 people died in the fires of Pedrógão Grande. I won’t forget the date because it was my birthday, we were far away in Cyprus and not paying attention to the news. It wasn’t until a friend in the USA expressed her condolences that I started looking at the headlines. Firefighters from four other countries were dispatched to help the thousands of Portuguese bombeiros fighting the blazes. The Portuguese Prime Minister declared three days of mourning.
The fires didn’t stop in June, they’ve continued into July and August. Parts of Portugal are in drought conditions, that’s how little rain has fallen this year. I know tourists want their beach holiday and hot weather, but Portugal could use some rain to put out the forest fires. It’s a small country without enough resources to deal with catastrophes.
Now I can say that summer is winding down, and so is strange August. September comes roaring in this weekend with the much-anticipated Red Bull Air Race in Porto after an eight-year hiatus. I pushed for a press pass to document what is my first aviation event in years, something I’ve missed from my previous life, and in a significant year (David Fielding would have turned 50 on May 30). Even if I’m not flying anymore, photographing it is the next best thing.
Photo: Ice the Dog in respose
August 25, 2017
Album: Portugal [Summer 2017]
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