We are now either just leaving, or soon will leave the Dog Days of August. Wikipedia says that the Farmer’s Almanac dates the dog days from July 3 to August 11, and that the Book of Common Prayer says the are from July 6 - August 17. There is a lot of other interesting background about dog days in the Wikipedia article, including how they date back to Roman times when the ancients sacrificed a brown dog at the beginning of the Dog Days to appease the rage of the Dog Star Sirius.

Today digital dog days come along in August when things get languid and boring online — and the blogosphere slows down. Like everyone else, bloggers tend to be absent from their posts or scratching around for something to write. What prompted me to write this observation was a post in the prestigious Chronicle of Higher Education “afternoon update” today. In these slow news days it is a treat to get to read something like this one: “Posh Digs for Animal Mascots Are Costly Habitats at Some Universities.” The post looks into the provision of a Maya-style temple for a mascot jaguar in Louisiana, some Alabama lions who have an African hut, and the waterfalls provided to Baylor’s bears. The post concludes with this to ponder on a dog day afternoon:

. . . according to animal-rights advocates, the new luxuries conferred on mascots make little difference to the animals. “It may look really nice to you and me,” an official at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals told the Journal. “But that animal is in a tiny, tiny cage from his or her point of view.” It’s unclear, however, how the PETA official inquired after that point of view.