If Aug. 2 had its own version of winter’s Groundhog’s Day, we’d predict six more weeks of summer. The first half of the season has been but hot but fun — with county fairs, swimming pools, community concerts and free activities at our libraries. The outdoor melodramas offered by the Barton Community College Theatre Department were a hoot, too.

The hot days will continue and — as Wednesday’s thunderstorm reminds us — we must always be ready for severe weather. According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, July 3 through Aug. 11 are traditionally considered to be “the Dog Days of summer.” This name has less to do with canines suffering in the heat and more with the “Dog Star,” Sirius, which would come into view, for ancient Egyptians, just before the Nile River's flood season. The Almanac explains, “They used Sirius as a ‘watchdog’ for that event. Because it also coincided with a time of extreme heat, the connection with hot, sultry weather was made for all time!”

Nothing lasts forever, and in less than three weeks our kids will be back in school and soon after that will come Labor Day, the Kansas State Fair, and then the shift from summer to fall. Thursday night, Aug. 1, was the last free outdoor summer movie in the courthouse square this year and Sunday, Aug. 11, will be the last day that the Wetlands Waterpark in Great Bend is open to the public.

The City of Great Bend still has at least one major summer bash to offer, the Aug. 10 Party in the Park at Veterans Memorial Park. There will be music and games, and plenty of things to see and do, including a pickle eating contest and the Wet-Dry Parade.

We may be in the Dog Days of summer, but that’s no reason to go back into our air-conditioned caves for the next six weeks. If it gets too hot, grab a water blaster and head to the Wet side of the Wet-Dry Parade.