August 39er's Dog Days

Are you suffering … 

… through “the dog days of summer”? No doubt August gets a bad rap. But dawg, it’s party time! At least according to more than a few cities around the country that celebrate their dogs and party too.

With or without a dog, you August folks are natural partiers. When this month was renamed* in 8 BC for Augustus, who founded the Roman Empire, celebrations honored his amazing triumphs. Let there be wine! 

He must have been a Leo ... 

July 39ers are Real Gems

Do you know a July 39er who’s a real “gem”? 

Of course, all 39ers are gems!

We often have fun here with birthstone/gemstone information and gift suggestions … this month I became obsessed … 

Got to thinking about gemstones and how they play an intriguing part in our lives. A popular gift item, over millennia, gems have touched us in many fascinating ways.

Not only do gemstones symbolize our birth month, but identify us even by different centuries, eras, and cultures. Dedicated to the gems in our lives …

 
July’s gemstone via the American Gem Society is established as the royal Ruby, but … “In 1912, in an effort to standardize birthstones, the (American) National Association of Jewelers met in Kansas and officially adopted a list.” (Wiki) 

And even before a list was made “official,” Tiffany & Co. published poems of an “unknown author" in an 1870 pamphlet, lionizing our birthstones. Their July verse: The glowing ruby shall adorn, | Those who in July are born; | Then they'll be exempt and free | From love's doubts and anxiety. But doesn't the day you were born deserve something sparkly?