Hammock Day

Taking place during the middle of the dog days of summer—a period often considered to be between July 3 and August 11, when summer is at its hottest—Hammock Day gives everyone an excuse to pause and relax and celebrate and enjoy summer the way it should be celebrated and enjoyed. Bob Matthews created Hammock Day, who acknowledged that lives are usually busy and hectic, but that "summers are a special time to lay back, enjoy the weather and the great outdoors, and recharge our batteries," and that the best way to do it is "from the comfort of a hammock under a shady tree."

Hammocks symbolize leisure, relaxation, simple living, and summer. They are made of rope, netting, or fabric, and are suspended between two or more points, such as by trees or posts. They are used for resting, sleeping, and swinging, and are commonly employed by campers and backpackers.

"Hammock" comes from the Spanish word hamaca, which is from the Taíno and Arawak word hamaka; the root maka means "stretch of cloth," and ha signifies the act of hanging. Hammocks were used in the West Indies by the time of the Spanish conquest. Early hammocks were woven out of tree bark and protected those who used them: with beds above ground, those using them were protected from snakes, animal bites, insect stings, and biting ants.

English sailors were the first to use them on ships, and hammocks were brought back to Europe by Christopher Columbus. (Although records exist of hammock-like apparatuses or hanging beds in Europe before this.) Hammocks were more widely adopted by sailors by the late sixteenth century, with the Royal Navy formally adopting them at this time, too. The use of hammocks on ships was ideal because they help maximize space and are comfortable: users stay well-balanced because the hammock sways with the ship, and falling onto the floor or to the deck below is less possible than with bunks. Sailors also slept on them in the gun decks of warships, where there wasn't enough space for permanent bunks. Naval use of hammocks continued in the twentieth century. For example, they were used on troopships during World War II, to increase troop carrying capacity and to free up space. They have also been used on spacecraft!

How to Observe Hammock Day

• Spend as much time as possible in a hammock today, preferably under a shade tree, and perhaps with a book or a cool drink.
• Buy a new hammock.
• Lie in a hammock on a boat.
• Visit a hammock hotel.
• Get a hammock for your cat, dog, or guinea pig.

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