Sept. 23-29, 2019

As we lay awake long before daybreak, listening to the rippling of the river and the rustling of the leaves ... we already suspected that there was a change in the weather, from a freshness as of autumn in these sounds. That night was the turning-point of the season. We had gone to bed in summer, and we awoke in autumn; for summer passes into autumn in some unimaginable point of time, like the turning of a leaf.

-Henry David Thoreau

The Autumn Apple Picking Moon wanes through its final quarter this week, reaching perigee (its position closest to Earth) at 9:22 p.m. on Sept. 27 and becoming the High Leaf Color Moon on Sept. 28 at 1:26 p.m.

This moon will pass overhead in the middle of the day, making that the most promising lunar time for angling, especially as the cold front of Sept. 29 approaches, pushing down the barometric pressure. This dark moon continues the planting of radishes and other root crops for a late fall garden.

Weather trends

Equinox parallels a drop in extremes as well as in averages. Days in the 90s are rare after Sept. 23, and even 80s will be gone in about three weeks. The odds for an afternoon in the 50s or 60s this week doubles over those odds last week.

The season of light frosts deepens in the Middle Atlantic region; Sept. 24 and 27 even carry a 20 percent chance of a mild freeze – the greatest chance since May 10. On Sept. 26, chances of a high below 70 degrees are better than 50 percent, the first time that has happened since May 4. New Moon and perigee at September’s end will greatly increase the likelihood of cold.

The natural calendar

Sept. 23: The Earth reaches autumn equinox at 3:49 a.m. today, entering the sign of Libra at the same time.

Sept. 24: In 60 out of 100 years, a light frost has struck most parts of the region by this date.

Sept. 25: A few monarch butterflies visit the late zinnias in the afternoon sun; other insects, however, become less common in the field and garden as the number of pollen-bearing flowers dwindles.

Sept. 26: In the fields, aster, beggartick, and goldenrod blossoms start to disappear; their departure parallels the beginning of leaf fall, the end of the spider season, acceleration in bird migration, everything seeming to unravel at once.

Sept. 27: Yellow locust leaves shed steadily through the woods. The surviving ash trees turn maroon and gold. Many New England asters have gone to seed, a deep gilding taking place throughout the canopy.

Sept. 28: Long flocks of grackles often pass overhead as October approaches.

Sept. 29: Average temperatures now start to fall at the rate of 4 degrees per week almost everywhere in the nation.

Field and garden

The new moon will favor the seeding of winter grains. As the moon waxes, set out cabbage, kale, and collard sets. Seed the lawn. Gather up the squash and pumpkins as their stems dry; store in a cool, dry location.

Halloween crops have come to town, and the period of peak sales begins. Some years, fall apples and grapes are half-picked; most of the corn and half of the soybeans are mature; farmers have cut two bean fields out of 10 and planted the same number in winter wheat.

Nutting season is underway: gather black walnuts, walnuts, pecans, and hickory nuts as they fall. Halloween crops have come to town, and more than two-thirds of the corn is normally mature.

Test your soil after harvest and fertilize as needed. Don’t wait until spring to feed the land. Do your Thanksgiving turkey marketing now and have your turkeys all placed before the leaves turn.

Almanac literature

The Way it Used to Be

By Douglas Strohz

Celina, Ohio

As a young man, being raised by my grandparents, I grew up learning about society from a distinctly “old world” standpoint. Also, the Boy Scouts of America, which also included summer camps and volunteer work, had introduced me to a “privy,” or latrine.

As an adult, I was volunteering as a junior counselor with my local church, and we were in a poverty-stricken area of West Virginia. The Appalachian Service Project was the name of the mission, and I and five others were sent to build a new privy for a family of six.

After the first hour, we were exhausted and somewhat stymied. As it turned out, when digging in the mountains, as compared to Ohio, there’s not a lot of dirt to remove; it’s mainly rocks and boulders! By the third day, we were all praying and asking for grace to ease our sore muscles, pain, and blisters.

But as we began to work, we were caught off guard by the most incredibly appetizing aromas coming from the house. And when we were getting ready to leave, the woman who had been in the house all day came out and began setting two tables.

As we began praising God and sharing fellowship, a hog was lifted from the ground, pies and casseroles were set out along with a salad, and corn on the cob, a banjo and guitar were being played, and smiles were on everyone. We had one incredible meal, and on day four, we prayed, we worked, we ate delicious leftovers and we worked.

We built a fine deck and a roof large enough to cover the whole privy. On Friday morning, we arrived to make a door, but instead of a half-moon, we made a cross on it.

Whenever someone makes derogatory comments about outhouses or their lack of sanitation, I remember the hog roast, the homemade pies and casseroles. I remember incredible fellowship, and how the more we prayed and worked, the better we ate and the achieved more success than all had thought possible.