Hammock Day and Ratcatcher’s Day

Summer’s in full swing,
So get out your hammock and
Sit back and relax.

 

It’s Ratcatcher’s Day.
Beware of the Pied Piper;
He’ll lure your children.

 

Today is Hammock Day and Ratcatcher’s Day.  Hammock Day is in the middle of the Dog Days of summer.  It’s a time to relax and not take things too seriously.  Don’t work on the lawn and cut back on the work, in general.  Just take some time to unwind.

The Pied Piper was a ratcatcher and is remembered on this day.  As a child I wondered why he was “pied”.  When I took French in high school I ran across the word pied, which means foot.  I speculated then that perhaps the “pied” piper traveled on foot, because the words are spelled the same, even though they are pronounced differently.  This theory could be further supported by the word pedicure, which is a treatment for the feet.  I don’t know that this is the reason the piper was “pied”, but it makes sense to me.