THE DOG DAYS OF AUGUST

DEAR GEORGE, People sometimes think that the “dog days of summer” means the late summer days when temperatures aren’t even fit for a dog. Actually the phrase was coined by the ancient Romans and denotes the period when the star Sirius (the Dog Star) rises and sets with the sun. Because the Dog Star is the brightest star in the sky, the Romans believed that it gave off heat and added to the sun’s warmth, thus accounting for the sultry weather in late summer. Hence, the “dog days”. We’ve definitely experienced the dog days in Cincinnati this month, and we’re glad to be moving on. But despite the heat, the dog days in our household have included lots of highs along with lows.

Two weeks ago our friends Paula and Frank gave us tickets for an evening session at the Western and Southern Open tennis tournament out in Mason. Katja and I have been going to the tournament since the late 1970’s when it was called the A.T.P. We’ve seen Borg, Connors, McEnroe, Lendl, Vitas Gerulaitis, and a host of other luminaries. As we arrived at the Lindner Tennis Center, we realized that this was the first time that we’ve been out in a big crowd in 18 months. At 6 p.m. the temperature was beastly hot, but Paula and Frank’s seats fortunately were in the luxury air-conditioned pavilion at the south end of Center Court. We were excited to see Coco Gauff and Matteo Berretini in person, and we splurged on $11 sandwiches for supper (a Greek gyro for Katja, pulled pork for me).

Two days later our son J flew up from New Orleans to go with us to quarter-final and semi-final sessions of the tournament. Due to a flight delay, he arrived in the wee hours of the morning on Friday. It turns out it is hard to get an Uber after midnight in Greater Cincinnati, but his insomniac parents were awake to greet him at 2:30 a.m. Our original plan had been for Katja to accompany J on Friday and for me to go on Saturday. However, with the heat index in the 90’s I went to both sessions with J while Katja enjoyed watching at home in our air-conditioned den. We saw Medvedev (the number one seed) and Rublev (the eventual men’s champion), along with women’s doubles matches featuring Ash Barty (#1) and Samantha Stosur. To combat the dog days we stopped at Frisch’s after the tournament on Friday for large chocolate shakes and on Saturday at Arby’s for Jamocha shakes.

In our off time J and I toured several of our favorite thrift stores: Goodwill, St. Vincent de Paul, the Valley Thrift. This is a father-son activity that goes back forty years or more. We both enjoy incomes that would allow us to buy new stuff at Kenwood Town Centre, but we seem to prefer searching for used treasures at bargain basement prices. J bought a couple of T-shirts with Cincinnati logos, while I browsed for kitschy figurines to add to my collection. The three of us had 4-ways at the Clifton Skyline on Sunday, and then we were off to the airport, the end to a visit that went by much too quickly. Our dog Iko cried when J (his former master) got out of the car to go into the airport, and we felt like crying too.

The following Monday we got up early to greet the plumbing crew who arrived to do a major project in our basement, including installing a new water heater and replacing all the hundred-year old pipes. I wasn’t exactly sure why we were doing this. Our heating/air conditioning package came with a free annual plumbing inspection, and the guy’s free advice was to spend ten thousand dollars to update our system. We just went along with it. The city water works people came first and shut off all water to our house. This meant no water, no flushable toilets, no tooth-brushing, no air conditioning. Because it was scheduled as a two-day job, I suggested we go camping, but Katja refuses to do this, especially with heat in the 90’s. Then we discussed whether to stay in the house while the work was being done or take the dog and retreat to a motel. We decided to stay at home. This might have been more my preference than Katja’s, but she didn’t protest too much. Temperatures quickly climbed to the high 80’s inside our house. Though we didn’t go camping, we wound up roughing it anyway.

The day after our plumbing had been replaced, the Sears guy came to fix the refrigerator. The ice maker had quit working, and I wasn’t able to unclog it. Also one of the shelves had come crashing down. The Sears guy unclogged the caked ice in a few minutes and that solved that problem. (I could have done that.) Then he pushed the loose shelf back into its socket. (I could have done that too.) Finally he pulled out the burnt-out lightbulbs in the stove hood and pushed the new lights in. (I could have done that if I knew how.) The job didn’t take long, but the bill was $182 just the same. I felt ashamed to be so unhandy, but I hid upstairs and avoided public humiliation.

Tonight we have reservations at the Chart House on Riverboat Row in Newport. It’s on the Ohio River with a grand view of the Cincinnati skyline, and we’ll be celebrating our 61st anniversary. A few months ago we wouldn’t have done this, but, with our vaccinations, we’re gradually venturing forth in the world.

The dog days of August have reached their end. For us, some of it’s been fun, some of it painful; some of it cheap, some of it expensive; some of it relaxing, some of it stressful. Overall, pretty much like the hodgepodge of life itself. LOVE, DAVE

ALL ABOUT SQUIRRELS

DEAR GEORGE, Growing up on the river, we kids considered the squirrels to be part of our family. They built their nests in the oak trees in our front yard and driveway, scurried about our lawn all day long, and thrived on the thousands of acorns as well as the overflow of seeds from Mother’s bird feeder. They never seemed worried about our Irish Setters, probably because they were too quick to get caught. My dad explained that the squirrels were important because some of their buried acorns would grow into new trees and help replenish the forest. Some seventy years later and in the big city, we still have squirrels all over the place. Iko gets excited and pulls on the leash when he spots them on our daily walks though they’re too quick for him as well. Katja and I watch the pair of squirrels that have built their nest on the window ledge outside our second-floor TV room. They don’t mind us watching them from the other side of the window.

Squirrels have been around for 36 million years, about 180 times longer than we humans. They live on every continent in the world except Antartica. Gray tree squirrels (our familiar friends) grow up to 12 inches in body length with a tail up to 10 inches. Adults weigh between 14 and 21 ounces. Up until the mid-1800’s squirrels were virtually unknown in American cities except as exotic pets. In July 1856 the New York Daily Times reported a huge crowd gathered in Central Park to witness the rare appearance of a gray squirrel, probably a pet that had escaped from its Fifth Avenue owner. Cities, however, began introducing squirrels to parks for their entertainment value, and by the mid-1880’s there were 1500 squirrels in Central Park.

If they had an Olympics for animals, squirrels would bring home a lot of the medals. Though less than 5 percent the body size of human beings, they can run 20 miles an hour and leap a distance of twenty feet. Because of their ability to use their tail as a parachute, squirrels can fall off a tree branch or electric wire 100 feet above the the ground, land on their feet, and not get hurt. Squirrels are double-jointed, and consequently they can turn their ankles and face in any direction. Because of this ability, they are one of the few creatures that can run headfirst down a tree trunk. Not only that but their eyes are positioned so that they can see behind themselves.

Squirrels mostly eat nuts, seeds, and fruit, though they sometimes enjoy an occasional insect, bird egg, or young snake. They’re serious eaters, taking in their own body weight every week. Squirrels don’t hibernate during the winter, Instead they rely on stockpiles of food that they gather and store in hiding places in the ground. Because putting all their food in a single location might make it vulnerable to thieves, squirrels do “scatter hoarding”, spreading their food across hundreds or even thousands of locations. Such clever little guys, they are even known to dig fake holes with no food in them in order to trick onlooking thieves. Researchers at Berkeley have found that, when given a mixture of different types of nuts, squirrels will sort the nuts by type and bury each type in a different spot.

Squirrels live alone most of the time, though they’ll sometimes nest together in the cold winter months. They build their nests with leaves, twigs, bark, moss, dried grass, and other materials in the forks of nut-bearing trees (e.g., oaks) or sometimes in people’s attics or chimneys. Groups of squirrels (called a “scurry” or a “dray”) are very territorial and will fight to the death defending their area, especially mothers protecting their babies. The squirrel mating season is from February through May, with males trying to attract attention by slapping the bark of trees and chattering loudly. Baby squirrels are called kits. They are born hairless, blind, deaf, and about one inch long. Each litter has two to four kits who are weaned after 7 or 8 weeks and leave the nest after 14 or 15 weeks.

Squirrels’ lives are threatened by a large bunch of predators: hawks, weasels, raccoons, bobcats, coyotes, foxes, cats, snakes, owls, dogs, human beings. Tail flicking and the “yuk” or “quaa” call are used to ward off and to warn other squirrels about predators. Squirrels in cities rely more on visual signals because of the noisy background environment, while squirrels in quieter forests vocalize more. Because of all their predators, most squirrels don’t live beyond two years, though those that manage to survive may live for six to twelve years in the wild.

There are about 2 billion Eastern gray squirrels in the U.S. In Ohio there are four species: gray, red, fox, and flying squirrels. Much to my surprise, the flying squirrel is the most common species in Ohio, but they’re rarely seen because they stay in forests and are nocturnal. Eastern gray squirrels are most populous in Cincinnati and Columbus, while Eastern fox squirrels are dominant in Cleveland, Toledo, and Youngstown. There were so many gray squirrels in the state in the nineteenth century that the Ohio General Assembly required each taxable adult to produce to the township clerk a number of squirrel scalps in proportion to county levies (a minimum of 10 but no more than 100 scalps per person). Fox, red, and gray squirrels are still legal game animals in Ohio, though Ohio state law says that, after trapping them, one must not keep squirrels in their possession for over 24 hours.

Americans have eaten squirrels for food since the Colonial days, and they remain a popular item in several Southern states. Chefs describe the meat as delicious, like a cross between a lamb and a duck — incredibly sweet, nutty, and very lean. Consumers like the fact that squirrels are local and a wild meat. Because the loin is so small, a squirrel is cooked exactly like a rabbit, either very quickly or for a long time. There are about 12 companies on the internet that sell grey squirrel, and most local butchers can obtain them if asked. Potential cooks should ask the butcher to skin the squirrels because an amateur would pull them into pieces.

I asked Katja about cooking squirrels for supper one day, and she’s thinking it over. But whether or not we eat some, I’m glad to have done my research. Now I look at our little neighbors with a newfound appreciation. LOVE, DAVE

SOURCES: arrow exterminating.com, “21 Interesting Facts About Squirrels”; asking lot.com, “How many squirrels live in Ohio”; havahart.com, “Squirrels”; livescience.com, “Squirrels: Diet, Habits & Other Facts”; ohiodnr.gov, “Eastern Gray Squirrel”; ohiohistorycentral.org, “Eastern Gray Squirrel”; quora.com, “How many squirrels are there in the world”; skedaddlewildlife.com, “How Long Do Squirrels Live?”; summitenvironmenalsolutions.com, “20 Fun facts about squirrels”; theguardian.com, “The ultimate ethical meal: a grey squirrel”; treehugger.com, “18 Things You May Not Know About Squirrels”; vancouverwildlife.com, “Squirrel Facts and Information”; vice.com, “We Should Think About Eating Squirrel”; wikipedia.org, “Eastern Gray Squirrel”.