These are the hottest and most unhealthy days of the year. Also known as Canicular Days, the name derives from the Dog Star, Sirius. The traditional timing of Dog Days is the 40 days beginning July 3 and ending August 11, coinciding with the heliacal (at sunrise) rising of Sirius.I should mention, for all of you English students out there, that I've never, ever heard anyone use the term "Canicular Days." And that these photos, although they depict dogs engaged in typical dog-day behavior (listlessly lounging in the sun and after a rainstorm, and in general looking much less threatening than groups of stray dogs usually look), were not actually taken during the Almanac's definition of dog days - they're from June 29 and July 1 and were taken on Gasheka St. in downtown Moscow.
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In the photo above, can you spot the 3rd dog? Pretty impressive camouflage.
If Norman Rockwell had painted stray dogs in Moscow, this might be what
such a painting would've looked like.
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3 comments:
Canicular days is a good one! :-))
Actually, I feel kind of ambivalent about so many dogs roaming the street of what seems to be any Russian city. They are fun to watch when they are just hanging out having "canine fun" ;-), but when they keep barking all night it really gets on my nerves. Or worse. They occasionally pick up fights with other dogs including those being walked by their masters. And many little kids are scared of them, and for a good reason.
There were an uncountable amount of wild dogs in Chisinau when I was there in the winter. It seemed that after the sun went down a chorus would start barking and fighting in the courtyards of the apartment blocs.
A friend of mine from Bucharest believes that most of the famous wild dogs of Bucharest were the result of villagers bringing puppies to city-dwellers, who would then turn them out when they out-grew the apartments.
Canicular days! Very innovative!
Nice dog photos you got there. Makes me envious, why these dogs just sleep and eat all day, no worries ahead...
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