Lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer?

Welcome to the dog days -- and Earth Season.

August 10, 2024

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Photo by Jan Huber on Unsplash

When I was a kid in Philly, we had a beloved radio DJ named Bill Webber, nicknamed Wee Willie Webber. I remember him most for his weather reports. One of his favorite sayings in the hot weather was: “It’s not the heat; it’s the humidity!” And he always pronounced it “hum-did-ity.”

Our summers in the 1950s were legendary: Hot, hot, humid, humid. I grew up in a rowhouse, with no air conditioning — just window fans. I remember going to bed at night, sticking to the sheets, and waking up, sticking to the sheets.

Crazily, we thought that sitting out on the front steps was a logical way to catch a cool breeze. Truth was, any breeze that wafted by was a hot one. Oddly, my clearest memory is of the neighborhood dads sitting in their cars, driver’s door open, their left foot on the ground, listening to the Phillies game on the radio.

To this day, I don’t know why they did that. The cars weren’t air conditioned; maybe they were escaping their households? Maybe the radio reception was better in the car? Almost any guy I might ask from that era has been dead and gone for years.

Back then, August was the hottest month. June and July were merely preludes to the real show. At some point, I heard the expression, “the dog days of summer.” I thought it referred to the neighborhood canines, who were sacked out on the grass, huffing and puffing, reluctant to move.

Years later, I found out that the expression referred to the Dog Star, Sirius, and is based on the period when that star rises with or near the sun. It is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major, which means “Large Dog.”

I also discovered that the dog days usually occur between July 3 and August 11. The term comes from the Latin “dies caniculares,” which translates to “dog days.”

The phrase can be traced back thousands of years to the Roman Empire. Ancient people believed that Sirius influenced the weather, causing extreme heat and even driving people and dogs to madness.

Hellenistic astrology also associated Sirius with drought, thunderstorms, lethargy, fever, and bad luck. Dogs seemed to suffer more from the heat than humans and were at greater risk of madness, which may be why the phrase is associated with dogs. (Source: Generative AI overview.)

In Five Element Acupuncture, the dog days put us squarely in the Earth Season (late Summer). Usually, Earth Season feels heavy, with the air dense and humid. This tends to be a slow-moving time of year, when it’s wise to just accept the feelings of sluggishness and inertia. New projects are best postponed until the air becomes drier and cooler; when our initiative typically returns.

It’s also a time of transition, from the “lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer” (Thanks, Nat King Cole) to the more structured days of fall, when school and work gear up.

The seasons in Five Element Acupuncture begin about six weeks before their calendar counterparts. Earth Season starts around the middle of the dog days and continues for at least another month — when dry, cooler weather begins.

It’s also connected to the Earth Element, which rules the Stomach and Spleen, both connected with digestion. The Stomach takes in food, water, and air, and then the Spleen transforms and transports them. The Spleen is also charged with holding things in and up. Thus, people who bruise easily are said to have a Spleen deficiency.

In addition, the Spleen is associated with cognitive ability. Having difficulty concentrating, absorbing, and remembering information can also point to a Spleen deficiency. The season’s humidity can create a condition known as “phlegm in the head,” which may feel like one’s head is wrapped in cotton, accompanied by muddled thinking.

The Earth Element is also responsible for helping us nourish and nurture ourselves and others, and for helping us feel grounded, centered, and calm. However, when the Spleen energy is excessive, we can feel stuck, overwhelmed, and unable to make changes.

The Earth Element’s connection with food allows us to feel abundance in our lives. Earth season is the time of the harvest and the greatest abundance of fruits and vegetables, before they die on the vine.

The taste associated with the Earth Element is sweet; the color is yellow; the sound is singing; the odor is fragrant (in a cloying way); and the emotion is either worry or sympathy. Someone with deficient Earth energy can be endlessly needy, and may worry to the point of obsession.

Here are some activities to help you stay healthy and happy in the Earth season:

Watch and celebrate the last weekend of the Olympics — an abundance of talent; pick late-season peaches and bake a pie; lie in a hammock with a good book; see how many experiences you can recall from your childhood; take long walks in the woods and really feel the earth holding you; nurture a young child or pet; say a prayer of gratitude for the abundance in your life; put aside money for when you may need it; cook a stew with local corn and tomatoes; and think about the sweetness in your life.

Also: listen to the symphony of cicadas, who have replaced fireflies; feed the homeless or work in a soup kitchen; get a massage — the Earth element rules the muscles; learn the lyrics to a favorite song and sing them at a music jam; buy some essential oils and wear them as perfume; express thankfulness to your healthy body; get a bird feeder to attract and nourish birds, in preparation for the cold weather; hug your family — they are true Earth; when you crave sweets, make a fruit salad and savor it; really experience the transitions in your life — maybe go to a high school reunion; attend a Phillies game or pre-season Eagles game (they both need you!).

Enjoy the foods of the Earth season: millet; sweet corn, sweet potatoes or yams, chickpeas, artichoke, collard greens, eggplant, mushrooms, parsnips, spinach, squash; apples, bananas, coconut; dates, figs; honeydew melon, oranges, mango, papaya, pineapple, raisins, grapes; almonds, pecans, pine nuts, macadamia nuts; cottage cheese, ice cream, milk, sweetened yogurt; salmon, swordfish, tuna; mutton, rabbit; carob, honey, maple syrup, and milk chocolate.