dog days of summer
plural noun:
1. the hot, sultry period of summer between early July and early September
2. a period of stagnation
3. the time when you get up early to enjoy the cool breeze or go camp under a grove of trees
4. the time when wading in the creek can feel good in the heat of the day
I am not a big fan of the dog days of summer. I was talking to the librarian today when I dropped books off and she stated, " I hate this time of year... it is so hot and everything is brittle and dry. Fire danger is high, water is scarce.... just give me winter any time!" Perhaps winter wouldn't be my first choice of season, but definitely fall or spring. The dog days of summer keep everyone where I live on edge. 
When the woods and fields are dry and water sometimes gets scarce it is a time when neighbors watch out for neighbors knowing a cigarette tossed carelessly out a car window could cause a blaze. Lightening storms can create beauty as they light up the sky, but can also spell danger. Knowing we need summer heat for our vegetables and annual flowers to bloom, I also know these plants need that critical cooling off period during the night to gear up for another hot day. Dog day summer nights don't provide that break so plants get stressed and their growth can stagnate. 
With a sultry feel to the air the dog days of summer urge animals to go undercover. We find our cats in the oddest places during the day. We always try to check before we set a sprinkler so one doesn't get soaked when water is turned on. The dogs can't go for car rides as often and both tend to sleep much more as the temperatures during the day rise.
When I was younger I worshiped the sun. We would lay out and get tans, stay in the water on air mattresses for hours on end and never think twice about any dangers the sun or heat might bring. Now I move through the dog days of summer with more ease by finding that campsite enclosed in the trees, wading in the creek down the trail from out site, reading and writing inside during the hot afternoon, enjoying the animals and sitting outside during the last hours of daylight, or work at getting up earlier to work outside when the air is cooler.Sometimes I just give in to the dog days of summer and grab a cool drink, a book, and sit in front of the air conditioner. How do you survive the dog days of summer?