Maddie Writes: Dear Cosmos, With the dog days of summer just around the corner, how can my family avoid the summertime blues?

Cosmos: First of all, I should point out that if the dog days of summer were really that bad, they wouldn’t be referred to as “dog days,” they’d be called “cat days.” And secondly, when you live in or are visiting San Diego, there is no such thing as “dog days of summer.”

For instance, just to pick a random day, August 10, a Tuesday, residents can visit free of charge select museums in Balboa Park, including the Museum of Photographic Arts, which is currently featuring Taking Aim: Unforgettable Rock ‘n’ Roll Photographs Selected by Graham Nash.

They can also pick up a Stay-for-the-Day Pass for $35 and add visits to Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries at the San Diego Natural History Museum, Viva Mexico at the Mingei, Toulouse-Lautrec’s Paris at the San Diego Museum of Art, along with two other museum visits.

Your family members have day jobs, you say? Fortunately the evenings are when Balboa Park really gets its groove on as Mariachi Chula Vista will be performing a free Twilight in the Park concert on August 10 in the pet-friendly Organ Pavilion. Also that night the Reuben H. Fleet is screening the new IMAX film Ultimate Wave Tahiti (included with the Day Pass) and the Old Globe is presenting the Broadway-bound Robin and 7 Hoods as well as the Shakespeare classic, King Lear.

These are of course just the highlights from one day, as I didn’t even mention all the gardens, walking tours, hiking trails, athletic facilities, or the three all-important dog parks. In fact, by the time I told you everything there is to do in Balboa Park, summer would be over.