Dog days in Ghana…in so many ways

Dog days: The hot, sultry summer months – usually July and August in the Northern Hemisphere. Ancient Greeks and Romans referred to these as the ‘dog days’ because the ‘dog star’ (brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (Large Dog)) would rise just before the sun. This was widely believed to be a cursed time, with the ‘dog star’ to blame for the heat…

...but today ‘dog days’ epitomize the best of summer – the best of the best. By this (my own) revised definition, the last several weeks here in Ghana have been ‘dog days’ in so many ways. 

Here’s a quick recap of a typical dog day in Cape Coast:

Quick run at dawn watching the big red African sun

rise through palm trees and clouds.

Quick second run with Hannah and Rock

I push them, they whine, we negotiate between breaths.  

Porridge (decent) and fresh pineapple (unbelievably good).

Lunch as a family followed by science hour with the kids (or economics or art).

Back at the bungalow after 5pm as the sun turns red again

The kids romp around with friends - jumping, chasing and taunting the bull dog.

Rock has our gloves ready for an evening workout (grounders, fly balls, pitching, hitting).

Overhead hornbills, kingfishers, kites, fruit bats, ‘vultchas’,

and the occasional (rare) toucan.

Around us guinea fowl, chickens, kids hawking (unbelievably good) pineapple,

the dog pack, and an orchestra of unseen insects.

The sun sets quickly and the street light over our red dirt road flickers,

then sparks and hisses and smokes.

Wash feet. Red red water.

Dinner as a family (yes, the third meal as a family).

Stroll with Heather with an entourage of dogs.

Unwind…sometimes by candle light.

In the dark, under a raging ceiling fan,

I lay next to Rock and listen live to an inning of an afternoon MLB game

or next to Hannah and talk and talk and talk.

These are ‘dog day’ highlights from my perspective, but ‘dog days’ for the kids are far more literal:

With real obsession, they observe and endlessly debate the personalities and social dynamics of the neighborhood dog pack. With the slightest whimper or bark – day or night – they spring to the windows and throw open the louvers. 

And in their defense, it is a pretty unique opportunity to observe a dog pack in (almost) nature - a dog pack that can roam freely night and day (mostly night) and play out the Call of the Wild - with very little human interference and no leashes, yards or fences. 

Oh, and it is hot and sultry too.