Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run.
— John Keats
The Almanack Horoscope
For the Second Week of Middle Fall
Moon Time: The Apple Cider Moon new on October 19, reaches apogee, its position farthest from Earth on October 24. Rising in the morning and setting in the evening, this moon passes overhead in the late afternoon.
Sun Time: October 24 is Cross Quarter Day, the halfway mark between autumn equinox and winter solstice. The Sun enters the late autumn constellation of Scorpio at the same time.
Planet Time: Jupiter has disappeared from the evening sky, but you can still find Saturn along the western horizon at dusk.
Star Time: Late in the evening, Hercules sets in the west, Taurus rises from the east, the Big Dipper lies along the northern horizon, the Great Square (Pegasus) is overhead, an the Milky Way crosses the sky ftom east to west.
Shooting Star Time: The Orionid meteors, children of Halley's Comet, appear in Orion during the early morning hours of October 21 and 22 at the rate of 15 to 30 per hour. The dark moon will favor viewing them.
Weather Time: The October 23 Front: Afternoon temperatures in the 50s and 60s usually accompany this front, and cold days only in the 30s or 40s occur one year in five. One year in three brings frost with this to the outlying areas of Clark County.
POOR WILL’S ALMANACK: Full moon could bring frost
Zeitgebers: Events in Nature that Tell the Time of Year: As October deepens, the golden hickory trees reach their finest color then shed suddenly in the cold waves that sweep more violently across the region. As those leaves come down, high mapleturn moves across Ohio, producing some of the brightest oranges and scarlets of the season.
Farm and Garden Time: Some beekeepers believe that the period of the waxing moon (now) is the best time to remove honey from their hives.
As cold weather threatens, check to make sure that you are adjusting ventilation in the hen house to compensate for seasonal changes. But don’t close buildings up too tight: adequate ventilation is still required in the coldest conditions.
Bulbs intended for spring forcing should be placed in light soil now and stored in a place where temperatures remain cool (but not freezing).
Marketing Time: January, the month before Mardi Gras, is a time for parties in many areas of the country. Considering that the Easter Season is the most profitable time of year for marketing lambs and kids, planning your approach to the new year should begin early, well before the farmers' markets of late winter, spring and summer.
Mind and Body Time: The first signs of seasonal affective disorders may occur in some people after October's new moon (the 19th ). The shortening day, colder weather and the increased likelihood of cloud cover combine with lunar influence to challenge those who are sensitive to seasonal mood swings. On the plus side, the shorter days bring a surge of autumn energy to some animals and people; take advantage of that energy to speed through your autumn tasks; you may begin to slow down in November and December.
Creature Time (for fishing, hunting, feeding, bird watching): The moon is above the woods and water in the afternoon this week, and it should encourage all creatures to move and eat, especially as the cold front of October 23 pushes down the baromter before their arrival. The last warblers and swallows leave the region now, along with almost every butterfly except the cabbage white. Rutting time approaches for white-tailed deer.
Journal
At this point in the year, the most temperate weather of the year is gone, and it is time to count the days left for autumn chores and harvest.
Now average high temperatures are in the middle 60s, with lows near 45. Of the remaining October days: two or three should be in the 70s, four or five in the 60s, four or five in the 50s and one or two in the 40s or 30s. One of every three will be cloudy and rainy; one in three averages a freeze.
After Halloween, the workday begins to shrink more quickly, losing two minutes every 24 hours, and the odds for decent temperatures plummet. In all November, there is an average of only one or two days in the 70s, just six in the 60s and only eight in the 50s.
The last week of late fall is the first week of December. By then, average highs have fallen into the 40s. There is only a one-in-ten chance that 60 degrees will come again after December 1, and only a one-in-three chance that temperatures will break 50.
So when you finally sit down to add up all the nice days, subtract the cold, damp ones and divide by the number of chores left to do this fall, the time seems pretty short.
Figure there are 50 days left to autumn: maybe six or seven decent ones remain in October; November, with its nine periods of rainfall, has only 20 dry days, and just half of those are even close to 60 degrees. You eliminate all but one or two days in the first week of December and you end up with a total of maybe 19 or 20 benign days between now and the arrival of early winter (December 8) for fertilizing, harvesting, wood cutting, planting winter wheat, raking leaves, transplanting, and digging spring bulbs.
Poor Will’s Almanack for 2018 is now available. Order yours from Amazon, or, for an autographed copy, order from www.poorwillsalmanack.com.
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