WESTBROOK, Minnesota (STPNS) -- Hot enough for you? I have not heard that one yet but have heard several “it’s a warm one” or “man it’s hot out there.”

    If you have lived in the midwest for any length of time you know at some time during the summer it is going to get very hot.

    It is almost like the “Dog Days of Summer,” what, you don’t know when that is? Well I looked it up on internet and found one site that said it occurs between early July, and early September. Another site is more precise saying it happens between the July 3 and August 11. Personally I agree with the first description, after all it is really hard to pin down weather phenomenon to any specific period of time.



    Yet another explanation is that

Dog Days actually doesn’t occur between July 3 and August 11. Because the earth slowly wobbles on its axis, which is called precession, the star Sirius, the Dog Star, does not start rising with the sun in North America until more than a month later. So the 40 days following August 4 would be the new Dog Days of Summer.

    The general meaning does not really have any connection with dogs. Reasons include that these days aren’t even fit for a dog or that the heat made dogs go mad.

    No actually the meaning comes from the stars. Sirius the Dog Star in Canis Major that is responsible for the saying. Although Canis Major is not visible during the summer, but you can observe Canes Venatici, the Hunting Dogs, lie just under the handle of the Big Dipper.

    The amazing thing about this is that it all goes back to the days of the Roman Empire.

    All I know is that when it gets in the nineties and the dew point in the seventies it’s just plain hot, and I will bet a dime to a donut that dogs don’t like it either!

Here’s a few one liners that might cool you off.

      Look on the bright side. At least you don't have to hurry home and wash a load of long johns.

    Hot? All day long my underarms have been looking for a place to hide.

   It's embarrassing when your armpits begin to rust.

   It's so hot out there I bet you could fry an egg right in the chicken.

    I think my T-shirt just died.

   I don't suppose anyone is interested in the chill factor.

   Today my antiperspirant failed when I was rolling it on.

   Look on the bright side. At least your teeth aren't chattering.

   I hate this hot weather. I mean, I believe a man should smell like a man -- but not a dead man.

   It was so hot yesterday, they say at Mount Rushmore, Lincoln was wearing a sweatband.

   I'll tell you how hot it was at the beach. I was sunbathing, and this big bully came by and poached an egg in my belly button.

    Hot? The weather service just issued a Flash Sweat Warning!

   I turned on the lawn sprinkler. All I got was steam.

  Hey, don't slave over a hot stove in weather like this. Do it the easy way -- rush home and toss a couple of TV dinners on the sidewalk.

   95 degrees on the old therdadeter. Actually, it's a thermometer, but I don't want to sound sexist.

   Remember last February, when you prayed you wouldn't freeze to death? Well, your prayer is being answered.

   What a great day to go out to the parking lot, jump into your car, and roast marshmallows.

Have a great week and do good!