Each season, I picked up the feel and taste of cycles. My blood began to learn new rhythms. My body became increasingly fluent in the language of cycles…. Small cycles radiated into larger ones. I kept following them, noting different ones each day…. Rick Bass

In the Sky

Perihelion, the point at which the Earth and the Sun are closest to one another, occurred on Jan. 2. The Sun enters the Late Winter constellation of Aquarius on Jan. 20. The Sun’s declination passes 17 degrees 31 minutes on Jan. 31, marking one quarter of the way to spring equinox, just as the final weather system of January arrives. Between the middle of January through the middle of May, spring moves from New Orleans at a rate of about six miles per day or one degree every four days.

January’s shooting stars are the Quadrantids; they appear through January 12, falling most heavily on January 3-4 at the rate of about 35 per hour. Look for them after midnight in the eastern sky near Arcturus. 

The Natural Calendar

Deep Winter, the second major phase of the year’s coldest time, ordinarily begins on January 1 and lasts three weeks. In the greenhouse, the Season of Jade Tree Bloom wanes as Camellia Season flowers in the Deep South and Black Bear Hibernation Season ends in southern forests. Throughout much of North America, Fox Mating Season and Coyote Mating Season take place beside Owl Nesting Season. Pine Pollination Season adds pine pollen to the south winds. Sparrows become even louder as Sparrow Courting Season follows the lengthening days. 

Here at the beginning of Deep Winter, it is not too late to sink a ruler against a few plants to track their upward progress. And it is the time to start a daily count of how many pussy willow catkins have started to unfold. Five major cold fronts of Early Winter have already come and gone. Six major cold fronts of Deep Winter will pass through about every five days like strokes of a pendulum, often leaving thaw in their wake, pulling open the catkins, tugging on the foliage waiting in the ground. 

January Weather Trends

High-pressure systems are due to cross the country on or around the following dates: January 1, 5, 10, 15, 19, 25, 31. If strong storms occur this month, weather patterns suggest that they will happen during the following periods:  January 1-2, 6-12 and 19-24 (the transition time to Late Winter). 

New moon on January 11, combined with perigee on January 13 is expected to chill the second week of the month, and full moon on the 25th, will almost certainly bring a bitter edge to the January thaw period. On the other hand, the weaker lunar phase at the end of the month will favor a strong Groundhog Day thaw before February 3.

The S.A.D. Index

January brings the year’s coldest weather to every state of the Union, and seasonal affective disorders are more frequent than at any time during the winter. 

Countdown to Spring

• One week until foxes mate

• Two weeks until pines start to pollinate, beginning the allergy season of 2024.

• Three weeks until the traditional January Thaw and the beginning of Late Winter

• Four weeks until cardinals start to sing before dawn

• Five weeks until doves join the cardinals, and maple sap flows

• Six weeks until the first red-winged blackbirds arrive in the wetlands

• Seven weeks to the first snowdrop bloom and the official start of early spring

• Eight weeks to crocus season and major pussy willow emerging season

• Nine weeks to the beginning of the morning robin chorus before sunrise

• Ten weeks to daffodil time

In the Field and Garden

This week is an ideal time to start flowers from seed under grow lights. Start with a warm location. Set a shop light above it, about six inches to a foot above the soil in which the seeds are planted. Keep your flats warm and watch spring arrive.

Chickens may need a supplementary feed throughout the winter.  Cold weather can divert egg-laying energy into heat.  Weight loss and molting often accompany a decline in egg production.

Water for livestock should remain between 50 and 60 degrees throughout the winter. Pregnant animals should be drinking more as their young develop.

Rheumatism in livestock often increases during the cold and damp weather of winter. A tablespoonful of paprika and one of molasses per day are considered helpful to reduce the stiffness in animals’ joints. Try it for your own aches and pains!

ALMANACK LITERATURE

Just a Coincidence?

By Theresa Steinbrunner

Fort Recovery, Ohio

In 1942, we lived near Cranberry Prairie, Ohio. One day the man of a couple who were long-time friends of ours upset the tractor and was killed. As we went to the house later to express sympathy to the widow, a handsome young man in uniform walked toward us, and my mother pointed him out to me but did not introduce me to him.

At that time, most of us had brothers in the military, and whenever we saw someone in uniform, we knew that there was a real risk of danger in his future. So I said a silent prayer: “Lord, keep him safe.” At the time, I had no inkling the prayer would be answered in a most personal way!

In 1945, the young soldier (named Albert) got out of the service and arrived in town just as people were gathering for a Hasenpfeffer Supper at St. Joe. Hasenpfeffer is a German recipe for cooking rabbit. The members hunted rabbits and gave the carcasses to a committee who prepared the ingredients and simmered them all in a large iron kettle. 

After we had eaten, the men moved the tables aside to make space for music and dancing. When Albert needed a partner for a square dance, my brother-in-law brought him over to me and introduced us. Would I dance with him? Of course!

This is how a friendship began which developed into a life of loving commitment. It was quite some time before I realized he was the same soldier I had seen more than three years earlier! Was it just a coincidence, or was it part of God’s plan leading us to where we should go? 

After we were engaged to be married, Albert told me that when he first saw me, his thought was, “I’m going to marry that girl.”

We had six sons and six daughters; they and their spouses gave us thirty grandchildren and thirty great-grandchildren! Albert was a good and faithful husband and father who loved us all!

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEK’S SCKRAMBLER

TOLDNU UNTOLD

JACOLED CAJOLED

LLEDPATRO PATROLLED

EONFLD ENFOLD

DSROEL RESOLD

WTDOLFO TWOFOLD

XTLLDOE EXTOLLED

UODFNL UNFOLD

PHUOLD UPHOLD

BHDOEL BEHOLD

THIS WEEK’S RHYMING SCKRAMBLER

NARW

RBON

NORH

OEURNB

RONW

RUMON

NHTRO

NORT

WSRNO

COSNR

In order to estimate your SCKRAMBLER IQ, award yourself 15 points for each word unscrambled, adding a 50-point bonus for getting all of them correct. If you find a typo, add another 15 points to your IQ. Yes, you are a genius.

Poor Will’s Almanack for 2024 Is Still Available

You can still order your autographed copy of the Almanack from www.poorwillsalmanack.com. Or you can order from Amazon.

Copyright 2024 – W. L. Felker