So This is July

65°f/18°C, overcast and very foggy after yesterday's heavy rain.

Can you spot Larry in the corn? Hint: he's a red dot in the center.

Well, here we are, already charging forward into July. I admit, July is my least favorite month. I hate the heat. I hate the humidity. But it's unavoidable so I soldier on and will this month to be over quickly.

I was curious about what lore and superstitions might be attached to this month, and found it is laden with them. Here's some if what I turned up:

Then came hot July boiling like to Fire,
That all his Garments he had cast away...
~Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, 1596

If the first of July be rainy weather,
It will rain, more or less, for four weeks together.
~English proverb

According to legend, Hercules is positioned upside-down in the sky so he can be head-to-head with the second of our celestial giants, Ophiuchus, the Doctor. Ophiuchus discovered the magic formula to eternal life; unfortunately for him, this didn’t bode well for Pluto, the god of the Underworld, who would then lose all his future inhabitants, so Pluto sent a serpent down to Ophiuchus, under the premise that should the good doctor prove victorious, we would all life forever; if the serpent won, Pluto would continue to receive us at the end of our lives. We can see the battle still raging, because on either side of Ophiuchus is a section of the snake, the constellation Serpens.

July 3rd marks the beginning of the “Dog Days of Summer.” Spanning from July 3rd to August 11th, this period marks when the Sun aligns with Sirius, the Dog Star. In ancient times, people believed that this celestial event resulted in scorching hot weather when Sirius and the Sun worked together.


July 15 — St. Swithin’s Day — if on St. Swithin’s Day ye do rain, for forty days it will remain.
Both of these are from the Old Farmer's Almanac.


Please, don't marry in July! Save your guests the misery of a hot wedding, and yourself a lifetime, apparently, of misery.

Married in July with flowers ablaze, bitter-sweet memories in after days.”

“Those who in July do wed, must labour for their daily bread.”

“A July bride will be handsome, But a trifle quick-tempered.”


And more:

"Ne'er trust a July sky." This suggests the weather in July can be unpredictable.
"If ant hills are high in July, the coming winter will be hard." This is an old belief about predicting winter severity based on ant behavior.
"As July, so next January." This suggests the weather in July might indicate the weather for the following January.
"No tempest, good July, Lest the corn look ruely." This implies that a calm July without storms is favorable for corn crops.
"Whatever July and August do not boil, September can not fry." This suggests that if the weather in July and August isn't hot enough to mature crops ("boil"), they won't ripen in September ("fry).
These last are from AI, but are verified by many other sources.