Well, I just got another of my cherished bubbles burst. All of my life, I can remember my Mom talking about the Dog Days of Summer. I just assumed that meant that it was so hot that the dogs crawled up under the porch, and did not venture out until night. Now I have just read that this term is so named due to the position of the Dog Star in the sky. I’m not much of a star gazer as looking up rather than down this time of the year is a fairly good recipe for a close encounter with those critters that have no shoulders or legs and slither along the ground. My astrology is limited to the North Star and the Big and Little Dipper.

Another thing that Mom warned me about the Dog Days of Summer was to not cut myself with my trusty Barlow knife while whittling. She said that a sore would not heal during The Dog Days, and that still remains true. Maybe that is caused by the heat, humidity and gnats keeping the wound open. I do remember this well. There were two red medicines that Mom would put on a cut or a scraped knee, and I invariably had one or the other. One of those medicines was Merthiolate while the other was Mercurochrome. One of them burned like all get out while the other one did not. When she opened that little red bottle, it was kind of like the tale of the lady and the Tiger behind two closed doors. I never knew which door was about to be opened and poured on my poor little body.

We are finished with sweet corn, and will finish planting our soybeans by Saturday. This is the week that begins our only slow time; so we will begin by going through all of our jeeps in addition to building the dog boxes for the two new ones we picked up this week. Since I have a lot of free time and it’s a bit early to talk too much about the coming hunting season, I thought that I would share a few random observations on life that have struck me this week. In no particular order, they are:

1. When Martha was sick with her chemo, I had to learn to navigate strange planets like grocery stores and Walmart. Does anyone have any idea why they build these stores with 20 checkout and cash register lines, but there are never more than 2-3 open?
2. I have actually purchased small bags of air a few times, but the company was nice enough to put a few potato chips in the very bottom of them.
3. I sleep better in my lounge chair than I do in my bed. When Martha wakes me up and tells me it’s time to go to bed, then I’m wide awake.
4. I really miss the good old days when everything worked with just two buttons- “on” and “off”.
5. My weight hasn’t changed in the past 35 years, but something has definitely changed. I tried on 4 suits in my closet the other day since I needed to attend a formal event where a sport coat and dress pants were not suitable. I got to the 4th suit before I found one that I could button my pants without fear of the button popping and killing someone. If my weight has not changed, then there must be pant moths in my closet.
6. Lastly, there are now moments in my life when I miss a loved one so much that I wish I could snatch them out of my dreams and just give them a big hug for real!

Y’all enjoy your summer, and don’t cut yourselves. You might get the hot, red medicine poured on you!