Antiquaria Journal Club | Week Forty-One

Hey There Journal Gang, 

How did your journaling go last week? Did you struggle or feel a particularly nice burst of inspiration? Hopefully the latter, but if the former..never fear! For today is Monday, and that’s a fresh new chance to start a brand new week. We are feeling determined to make it a particularly good one, despite wading through these rough dog days of late Summer. “Dog days..why the heck are they called that, anyway?”, I wondered.

There are many common colloquial phrases we all know, but the origins themselves are often more obscure. Here’s a little fun fact to start off your week:

The dog days of summer are the hot, languishing days of summer. Historically, they followed the rising star system, Sirius. Sirius, also known as the dog star, is the brightest star visible from earth and is a part of the constellation Canis Major. 

During this period of the Summer, the Ancient Greeks took notice of Sirius rising and setting with the sun. Forever curious and ponderous, they developed the theory that it was this blazing bright star which was amping up the heat of our own sun in July and August. Hellenistic astrology then associated this star pattern during “dog days” with heat waves, spells of drought, summer storms, lethargy and more lovely things of that nature. These official dates vary, but it’s typically from July 22-August 22.

Pretty interesting stuff. Hopefully, we are on the downswing of the dog days! How have things been in your area? What are you doing beat the dog days blues? Colorado is in a drought right now and we've been dealing with some pretty intense forest fires and hazy smoke over the past week or so. Grateful for all of the firefighters that are bravely battling the blazes, and we are hoping for rain. The ever-so-valuable 2020 outdoor outlet of relaxation (gardening, hiking, walking, etc) has been taken off the agenda for now, so we are mentally reviewing simple pleasures to enjoy to power through this last rough bit of Summer.

Maybe you are feeling in need of a boost too. What are your favorite simple pleasures to partake in? Take a mental inventory, jot them in your journal and try to do some of those things this week!

Excuse us while we go drink some fruit infused ice water, eat some ice cream, tend to our houseplants and read a book in the most comfy chair in the house. :)

Happiest Journaling to You,

xoxo

The Antiquaria Team