The Canicula (the season of "dog days") was newsworthy this year because of rain and cool weather at its climax. This is not a herald of global warming, nor climate change; it happens once every few years. But it makes a big difference for life in a large city. Many citizens of Reynosa still have connections to family who make their living in agriculture. A rain in late July can stimulate the sorghum, sometimes even save an entire crop if it was seeded for late harvest. The outskirts of Reynosa and a large portion of our diocese still have many farms and hectares (rather than acres) dedicated to sorghum, cotton and corn fields. This Summer the rains came too late for some early plantings, but local crops which persevered to late July then flourished.
When is the season of the Canicula? That depends upon who you are asking. The range of starting and termination dates varies to some degree based on ... who knows? Whomsoever you ask the question will give you the distinct impression that you are getting this year's specific divination of the unpublished Farmers Almanac under the authority of regions, mood swings and perhaps how gullible you appear as the questioner. Maybe different states and regions of the country have their distinct traditions. Nonetheless, you realize for certain when you are in the "Dog Days" after becoming aware that you have felt continually oppressed for days usually in early to mid-July. Then sometime in early to mid-October it dawns on you that the sun is still very strong but the air not such a corresponding partner.
Many whose families live in the south of our state of Tamaulipas or in other states-- Veracruz, San Luis Potosi, Morelia, for example-- received good reports from familiy members about their harvests.
Public school began in late August and the predictions proved true. There were more showers and nights of unseasonable cool temperatures (lows of 75 degrees). Trees at El Rancho Nazaret, which had been hunkering down (a kind of hot weather hibernation?) for two months, have begun to put out new growth.