By Bill Felker

 Lyrid meteor shower begins this weekend

If you would draw closer to Nature, age with Nature. Find a portion of the raw world that is nearby. Adopt it. Your concern for the fate of Nature can be played out and developed through the degree of care you devote to this one tiny area of the whole…. No matter how small an area it may be, it creates particular harmonics that ripple across your common time and space. – Peter London, Drawing Closer to Nature

The Moon, Sun and Shooting Stars

The Third Week of Middle Spring

The Gilded Goldfinch Moon becomes full on April 16 at 1:55 p.m. and then reaches perigee, its powerful position closest to Earth, on April 19 at 10 a.m. Rising in the evening and setting in the morning, this moon passes overhead in the middle of the night, making that time the most favorable for fishing but the worst for dieting, especially as the cold fronts of April 16 and 21 approach.

The Lyrid meteor shower begins on April 16 and peaks on April 22-23. Expect up to 20 shooting stars per hour in Lyra, almost overhead in the eastern sky after midnight when the Big Dipper is overhead. The waning moon may make it difficult to see the fainter shooting stars.

The Eta Aquarid meteor shower lasts from April 19 to May 28, peaking in early May. Find those shooting stars low in the east before dawn while you are still looking for Lyrids.

The sun enters the sign of Taurus on April 19.

Weather Trends

Precipitation typically occurs as the April 16 front crosses the United States. This. year’s full moon (close to perigee on the 19th) is almost certain to bring storms, followed by frost. After the front passes, however, expect warm weather to nurture your early April plantings. The final third of April should be mild and sunny until frost again becomes likely with the advent of the new Warbler Migration Moon. Climate change is expected to increase the chances of precipitation during the spring. Consider options of plant varieties for late planting.

Zeitgebers: Events in Nature that Tell the Time of Year

Throughout the northern half of the country, forsythia, fruit trees, wild mustards, honeysuckles, Russian olives, redbuds, magnolias, ground ivy, dandelions and poppies are ordinarily blooming. Honeysuckles and spicebushes have developed enough to turn the undergrowth pale green, and color rises through the woodlots and fencerows.

Daffodils, Dutchman’s britches, violet cress, toad trillium, rue anemone, spring beauty, star of Holland, Virginia bluebells, toothwort and hepatica are at the height of their bloom. Cowslip, trout lily, Greek valerian, thyme leafed speedwell, watercress, violets, jack-in-the-pulpit, woodland phlox, ragwort, wild ginger and early tulips open. Bird watchers may see new house wrens, brown thrashers, towhees and chipping sparrows.

In the Field and Garden

Although frost is still possible for another month, it is also possible that there will be no serious freeze between now and summer. Put in peas and some sweet corn directly in the ground, for sure. Try several hills of squash and your first rows of beans.

If you have beehives, check to make sure bees are carrying in pollen. Bees need pollen to raise larvae, and without it, they will not raise enough bees to gather the summer honey crop. If they are not bringing in enough pollen, feed a pollen substitute.

When you see the white flowers of garlic mustard flowering in the woods, look for cutworms and sod webworms to start taking over the field and garden. Weevils are showing up in the alfalfa, too.

And cut asparagus and rhubarb and pull the commercial radishes as the moon gets fuller and fuller; they should be fat with lunar moisture.

Mind and Body

The S.A.D. Index (which measures, on a scale of 1 to 100, the forces thought to be associated with Seasonal Affective Disorder) remains in the 50s and high 40s throughout most of the period, influenced by full moon and perigee.

Almanack Classics

Where Can I Plug it in?

By Lois Rivard, of Placerville, Calif.

In the 1930s during the Great Depression, people tried to make a buck any way they could. We had frequent visitors trying to sell their goods. It might be a bottle of cure-all, homemade items or just a cheap scam.

This particular day, a man showed up with a used vacuum cleaner. In great detail he expounded on its many uses and elaborated on its ability to pick up almost anything.

To prove his point, he dropped a handful of nails and bolts on the bare, wooden floor. Still spieling his sales pitch, he dumped a bucket of dirt to demonstrate the vacuum’s speed and power.

He looked around and asked, “Where can I plug it in?”

Without a word, my mother left the room. She returned with a broom and dustpan which she shoved at the salesman.

“Let’s see how speedy YOU are,” she said. “We don’t have electricity!

Send your memory stories to Poor Will, P.O. Box 431, Yellow Springs, OH 45387. Five dollars will be paid to any author whose story appears in this column.

Poor Will’s Almanack for 2022 is still available, containing the S.A.D. Index, as well as natural history essays for each week of the year, monthly weather reports, some of the best reader stories of all time, and a monthly farm and garden calendar. Purchase your copy from Amazon or, for an autographed Almanack, order from www.poorwillsalmanack.com. Or send $22 to Poor Will, P.O. Box 431, Yellow Springs, Ohio 45387.

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEK’S 

SCKRAMBLER

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.

HSIULB     BLUISH

YIOHSB     BOYISH

DLHHCIIS     CHILDISH

VLHSIA     LAVISH

NABHSI     BANISH

HIANSV     VANISH

FHSMAI     FAMISH

DADIKHS     KADDISH

NINSAMH                 

MANNISH

ERIPHS     PERISH

THIS WEEK’S RHYMING SCKRAMBLER

OAOLNLB     NOBABO     ONOM

OONN     SOPON     OLON     RONAMO     NWOOS     GALNOO     CORONAC

Copyright 2022 – W. L. Felker