Oct. 20-26, 2014

There is a peace to an autumn day fair

a lull that hangs heavy in the air

Calls of blue jays sharp and shrill

Echo over dale and hill

a sense of timelessness pervades

O’er sunlit fields and deep forest glades.

-“Eternal October” by Kathryn Gerwig

Lunar phase and lore

The Hickory Nutting Moon wanes until it becomes the new Toad and Frog Migration Moon at 4:57 p.m. Oct. 23. Rising after midnight and setting in the afternoon, this moon passes overhead in the middle of the day – making midday the most propitious lunar time of the week to be fishing or looking for wild animals, especially as the barometer falls in advance of the Oct. 23 cold front.

This dark moon week will be one of the best weeks of all for autumn bulb planting, most notably in Scorpio from Oct. 23-26.

Weather trends

Lows in the 20s or 30s are most likely to occur on the mornings of Oct. 19-20, with the latter date carrying the highest chances for a freeze so far this season: a full 30 percent chance for a light frost, and an additional 20 percent chance for a hard freeze. The Oct. 23 high-pressure system almost always produces rain or snow.

After it passes through, however, Oct. 26, 28 and 29 are often some of the best days of the month for harvest. But the mornings most likely to bring a killing frost during the month’s final week are Oct. 25-26. Both have a 35 percent chance of a low only in the 20s along the 40th Parallel, the first time this season the odds have risen so high.

The natural calendar

Oct. 20: Cattails begin to break apart. The final asters of the year go to seed.

Oct. 21: As foliage thins, eastern phoebes, catbirds and house wrens depart. Vast flocks of robins are fluttering, chattering, whinnying and moving south through the high trees along the river valleys. The very last monarch butterfly flies south.

Oct. 22: Deer are in estrus throughout Central states, more likely than usual to appear suddenly in front of your car at night.

Oct. 23: Today is Cross-Quarter Day, when the sun reaches halfway to winter solstice. Watch for a partial eclipse of the sun visible during the late afternoon; check local sources for exact times where you live.

Oct. 24: Between today and the arrival of early winter, there should be up to 20 days of relatively benign, dry days for fertilizing, harvesting, wood cutting, planting spring crops, raking leaves, transplanting and digging in spring bulbs.

Oct. 25: Silver maples are champagne-gold, and the sugar and red maples are down or are shedding quickly. Tulip trees are almost gone. Some ginkgoes are green, others fully gold and losing foliage.

Oct. 26: Morning fogs become more common as harvest continues all around the country. Mice look for shelter from the cold inside your home and RV. Soon the Marauding Mouse Moon will set them marauding.

In field and garden

Oct. 20: The third and final cutting of alfalfa is complete throughout Ohio and   Indiana. Gardeners divide peonies, lilies and iris, then plant crocus, daffodils, tulips, snowdrops and aconites.

Oct. 21: Almost all the corn has been cut for silage. One out of every two soybeans has usually been taken from its stalk.

Oct. 22: The sugar beet harvest begins near this date.

Oct. 23: The grape harvest is complete. Tonight’s new moon makes frost likely soon, and the cold front that crosses the nation near this date almost always produces rain or snow.

Oct. 24: Complete fall pruning in October’s remaining mild weather. Spread manure on the field and garden: wait until all the leaves have fallen to feed trees, perennials and shrubs.

Oct. 25: Today is the average killing frost date for most of the region. Dig up onions; remove the mum tops; cut flowers and herbs for drying. Get your woodpile covered, too.

Oct. 26: Set in tulip, daffodil, hyacinth and crocus bulbs as the moon wanes. Transplant roses, pussy willows and perennials. There is hardly a better time than now getting in new shrubs and trees. 

Almanac literature

Great American Story Contest entry

The Dog with the High IQ

By Ron Hocker

Crestline, Ohio

Many of us have owned smart dogs, and many of us farm folks, smart farm dogs. When I was about 8 or 9 years old, my dad took me to a farm friend of his to do some business. It was almost my birthday.

Well, this old guy, Art, had a dog that had just had puppies. He said, “How about a puppy for your birthday?” Dad agreed, and we brought it home. Then came a name for it. I don’t remember who it was who picked out Micky, but we all agreed.

As my dog grew, we all fell in love with her. We never really knew what breed she was, but I can remember old Art saying it was part collie and something else. Well, she never got to be collie size; maybe half. She went with us to every corner of the farm. Dad even had to build special platforms on the tractors so she could ride if she wanted, and as I remember, she liked that a lot.

The older she became, the smarter she got, and without much training. This dog must have had part of a human brain. All we had to say was we were going blackberry picking and she would bark and wag her tail. She loved to go along, eating any berries that fell to the ground.

The one memory of her I’ll never forget was one day in the summer when the sweet corn was ripe, Mother told Dad she planned to put up some corn in the afternoon when we returned from town.

So, Dad and I took a couple baskets to the sweet corn patch – it was at least 400 yards from the house – and as time was limited that morning, we never had time to get near all of it picked and into the baskets. But most of it was at least pulled and thrown on the ground on the outside of the patch.

We went to town for probably 2-3 hours, and when we got home, we noticed Micky was sitting by a pile of corn, barking and wagging her tail. In disbelief, Dad inspected a few ears of corn only to find teeth marks and saliva on the husks. Micky had brought all of the remaining corn from the patch to the house while we were gone! Needless to say, Micky got a special great that day, and one was a big hug from all of us.

: Poor Will, P.O. Box 431, Yellow Springs, OH 45387. The deadline is Dec. 1.