Happy “Dog”ust. The heat here in The South has been extreme, even for Florida standards. I went to touch the metal pull on my porch’s screen door and it nearly burned my fingers. That’s extreme.

Despite the heat, the paver crew returned to finish a job started a few weeks ago. Having excess material, and seeing how the recent torrential downpours reacted to the recently installed paved path, it was determined that we’d just continue to pave right up to the house.

Technically, due to a celestial constellation, we are in the actual Dog Days of Summer; July 3rd ending on August 11. Even the dogs seem to be content to just lay around the house in the a/c cooled floors and crunch on ice cubes, conserving energy and staying hydrated.

And some local dogs lost a great friend.

Last week, we learned of the sudden passing of a young woman named Erin. She perished in a car accident when her car veered off while taking a curve on a dark road and striking a tree. I was so saddened when we realized it was the young woman that had waited on us so often at one of our favorite dog-friendly waterfront spots. 

She was always kind to our dogs and had a few herself.

“I have a lot of dogs myself,” she’d said while taking our order. 

“13 of them are English Mastiffs.”

It takes a lot to really floor me, but this did.

“What? 13 OF them?” I said putting down my draft IPA to comprehend what she’d just said.

“Yes, and we have a camel, too, and other dogs.”

She might’ve said more, but I was still stuck on imagining feeding 13 mastiffs and feeding and cleaning up after all of them.

During the week, we took a ride to the site where her life had come to an end so tragically and where a makeshift memorial now stands.

It was a sobering moment, and I thought of her mom, who also had worked at the same eatery, and her family, friends, partner and baby who would be grieving her loss for the rest of their lives. At only 24, so many what ifs and could’ve beens.

In honor of the Dog Days, and because it is almost too hot to write, I will just end my post on an upbeat note with some photos taken of the pack recently. They bring me so much joy. 

I think in these three photos, Penny and Winnie look to be having a lively and humorous discussion about Jackson who is is standing up on the dock. After, Penny appears to be having a good belly laugh while “getting the grass” as we call it around here.

Always good to appreciate the natural beauty of this area, even the dogs seem to know it. Have a good First Weekend of “Dog-ust”.