Dog Days of Summer Begin

Joyce and Bill Leonard's 80th birthday celebration

The Romans called the next 40 days of summer the dog days because they thought the morning star, Sirius, the dog star, contributed to the heat and humidity of July and August.  To the Egyptians it was the beginning of the flooding of the Nile.  The Romans also thought it made dogs go mad.  So much for scientific explanations.  It is comfortable right now, about 63 degrees and will get up to 80 possibly later today.  Rain was forecast for last night but because we put our lawn in last Monday, the gods decided to play with me so it didn't rain, hasn't rained since we put it in, and is not forecast to rain for the next week.  How can I appease the rain gods so it will rain?

We went to Leonard's birthday celebration yesterday, both having turned 80 in the past year, so all their kids were there to help them celebrate, as well as  a few neighbors and relatives from the area.  A beautiful night to be outside, it went well. Afterwards, I cooked burgers and portabellas for us on the grill.  The portabellas were especially good as substitute burgers.  I marinated them in oil, garlic, balsamic vinegar and onions for an hour, then cooked them on the grill for ten minutes, about the same amount of time as the burgers.  Get big ones, the kind that easily fill a bun, and you will enjoy it will all the fixings.  I made up some thousand island dressing to put on mine.  Yum.

We are off to Euclid for the day, to see Linda and Rich and the Bottinys.  It looks like a great day to go in, to be on the beach, and enjoy family and the outdoors.  I hope we get to see some of the Holzheimer children and grandchildren though they, no doubt, all have games on a sort.