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Peak of Delta Aquarids is July 28-29
 

By Bill Felker

The air is full of drifting thistledown,

Gray pointed sprites, that on the breezes ride. – Vita Sackville-West

 

The Moon, the Sun and Stars and Meteors

The Fourth Week of Deep Summer

The Fledgling Moon wanes throughout the period, entered its final quarter at 9:14 a.m. on July 20, reaching apogee, its position farthest from Earth, on July 26 and then becoming the new Soaring Swallow Moon at 12:55 p.m. on July 28. Rising after midnight and setting in the afternoon, this moon travels overhead in the morning, encouraging creatures to be more active at that time, especially as the July 21 and 28 weather systems approach.

By the end of July, the Big Dipper is moving into the far northwest by 10 p.m., and it will lie along the northern horizon after midnight. June’s planting star, Arcturus, has shifted deep into the western sky a few hours after sundown, and Pegasus, outrider of October, fills the east. The dark new moon will not interfere with your meteor viewing.

As the trees darken with middle summer, the Sun slowly increases the rate of its descent, falling a little more than one degree to a declination below 20 degrees by July 24. (The peak of the sun’s progress occurred at summer solstice, when its declination was approximately 23 and a half degrees).

The nights of July 28-29 bring the peak of the Delta Aquarids after 12 a.m. in Aquarius. This shower can bring up to 20 meteors in an hour.

 

Weather Trends

As July comes to an end, a subtle change takes place in weather history statistics. The chances for highs in the 80s or 90s fall slightly from 90 percent down to 75 percent at elevations of about 1,000 feet along the 40th parallel. That shift is the first measurable temperature signal that summer has begun to unravel. Rainfall typically tapers off slightly as milder weather contributes to fewer thunderstorms.

 

Zeitgebers: Events in Nature that Tell the Time of Year

The best of the morning bird chorus is over now. Swallows are migrating; they can often be seen congregating on the high wires. Pre-dawn robin song has ended for the year. Cardinals still sing a few weeks longer. Keep track of when they stop; by then it is the middle of Late Summer.

When Joe Pye weed sends out its purple flowers in the wetlands, then the morning bird chorus softens. Late summer crickets start to chant, and a few Judas maples produce red and orange foliage.

When you see seedpods fully formed on the trumpet creepers and green berries on the poison ivy, and when white vervain blossoms reach the end of their spikes, then listen for katydids to begin shouting “katy-did” after dark.

A slight turning of the leaves is beginning on some of the redbuds, Virginia creepers, box elders, and buckeyes. Foliage of Japanese honeysuckle and the multiflora roses often shows patches of yellow.

When ragweed comes into bloom, then a few cottonwoods are turning pale and black walnut leaves start to fall.

When pokeweed berries darken, then the peak period of garden tomato harvest is underway. And when the first buckeyes and Osage fruits fall to the ground, then average temperatures begin to decline for the first time since January.

 

In the Field and Garden

Late July, when the day’s length has lost an average of 30 to 45 minutes from its longest span, is the typical time for does and ewes to show first signs of estrus cycling. Check records now to estimate the cycle date for each of your animals; those dates are often similar from year to year.

And when you hear the katydids, get ready to seed alfalfa, smooth bromegrass, orchard grass, tall fescue, red clover and timothy.

Drought, heat and age contribute to declining nutritional value in grasses by this time of the summer. Variety in browse offers chances for better nourishment to your flock and herd. Some farmers have livestock graze the hay fields when the pastures give out.

Keep gladiolus and dahlias watered in the mid-July drought. Include the mums in your summer care; give them a little extra food now for extra blossoms in September.

Dig potatoes and dry onions, cut cabbage for kraut, pickle the cucumbers, gather sweet corn, top tobacco, bring in oats, wheat, alfalfa and all the summer market crops. Elderberries are turning purple as soybeans blossom.

Take special care that breeding stock does not get neglected or run down this month because of weather conditions or irregularities in feeding or trips to shows. In another month or so, you will want your breeding animals at the peak of their condition for autumn mating time.

 

Mind and Body

The S.A.D. Stress Index (which measures the forces thought to be associated with Seasonal Affective Disorder on a scale from 1 to 100) reaches a low of 25 on July 20. After that, it rises slowly into the 30s as the new moon approaches. You may begin to notice a definite emotional shift as the days shorten and the texture and color of the foliage change. The sun rises and sets a little further south, and it lies a little lower in the sky throughout the day. Roadside vegetation browns like the winter wheat, telling the commuter that the greenest time of year is almost over.

 

Almanack Classics

Another Duck and Snake Story

From Susan Perkins, Hardtimes Farm, Ky.

I found two baby ducks the mother had abandoned, and put them in a laundry basket and brought them in the house. They were just a couple of days old, so I put a red heat light over the laundry basket to provide heat, but not light for night use.

The house we live in is over 200 years old, and though my husband Curt and I have lived here 20 years, it’s still a work in progress. The room the ducks were in was once a porch with a concrete floor. We took out the wall and made it a part of our house.

Curt worked nights and at about three o’clock in the morning, a big storm came up. I got up and came downstairs, not turning on any lamps, as the red light cast a soft glow over the two rooms.

I walked over to peek at the ducks and one had managed to get itself caught head first in one of the holes of the plastic basket. I reached down saying, “Where do you think you’re going?” giving a gentle tug on the duck.

When I pulled it through the hole, a huge snake came through with it. It had the poor thing by the head and was swallowing it. I hollered and let go of the duck. The snake pulled the duck through the basket, and disappeared through a hole in the corner of the porch where the concrete meets the wall.

Believe me, the next day this ole girl was mixing concrete and patching anything that even looked like a hole!

 

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

 

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.

NEALC CLEAN

ENECS SCENE

ENERP PREEN

AMEN MEAN

ILNEOSAG GASOLINE

EINARM MARINE

CFFNAIE CAFFEIN

EIOUNTR ROUTINE

ENIRUOBMAT TAMBOURINE

INEDARS SARDINE

 

THIS WEEK’S RHYMING SCKRAMBLER

NAIRB

INAPS

EANW

INAV

NIEV

ENVA

INARD

NIRAG

ANITNCO

PAENGCHMA

Copyright 2022 – W. L. Felker 

7/19/2022