Changes in the weather transform the very feel of the world’s presence, altering the medium of awareness in a manner that affects every breathing being in our vicinity. We sometimes refer to such weather phenomena, taken together, as “the elements,” a phrase that suggests how basic, how primary, these powers are to the human organism. -- David Abram, Becoming Animal, An Earthly Cosmology

The Crow Moon wanes throughout the week, entering its last quarter at 9:13 p.m. on January 14. Rising in the middle of the night and setting in the middle of the day, this moon is strongest when it is overhead near dawn. Its presence above you should encourage fish to bite and game to be more active at that time, especially as the cold front of January 15 approaches. 

The Sun: Even though the mornings are still so dark, the days are twenty minutes longer this week than they were at Christmas (most of the extra time coming from the later sunsets). On January 11, sunrise finally starts to occur earlier for the first time since the middle of June.

The Planets:  Jupiter is in Pisces, following Venus into the west at dark.

The Stars: If you drive to work before sunrise, check the sky while it is still dark. The brightest star above you will be Arcturus in the constellation Bootes. In the east, the largest stars of the Summer Triangle (Lyra, Deneb and Altair) will be rising.

Weather Trends

Weather history for this period of January shows rapidly increasing odds for colder weather. Chances for highs only in the 20s or teens increase to near 50 percent on the 9th, 14th, and 15th. Below-zero readings occur most often on the 9th, 11th, and 16th (20 percent of the years in my record). 

With a general increase in the cold, skies have fewer clouds this week of the year, with the 12th, 13th, 15th and 16th bringing a 60 percent chance for sun. The cloudiest day of the week is usually the 14th, with only a 35 percent chance for clearing. Precipitation occurs two years out of three between the12th and the 14th -- with the 14th bringing snow to central Ohio more often than any other day of the entire year. `

The Natural Calendar

Between the middle of January through the middle of May, spring moves from New Orleans at a rate of about five miles per day or one degree  Fahrenheit every four to five days. 

In keeping with that progress, during milder years, the foliage of crocus, columbine, henbit, catnip, forget- me-not, garlic mustard, dandelion, wild onion, celandine, hemlock and ground ivy expands slowly between cold fronts, revealing the often-overlooked season of winter leaves.

Nighttime excursions of skunks, the occasional appearance of flies, an increase in opossum activity, the prophetic calls of overwintering robins, the occasional passage of bluebirds are all signs of the progress of Deep Winter towards March. 

In the Field and Garden

January 9 is Plough Monday, the traditional beginning of the farm and garden year. In the week ahead, continue to put in bedding plant seeds as the Moon darkens. 

Prepare flats grow lights for bedding plant seeding when the moon is darkest, between January 18 and 25.

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.

Consider forage testing for your livestock soon if you suspect that quality is declining. Some traditional winter supplements for you and your animals include a little whole barely, a teaspoon of molasses in a pint of milk, powdered slippery elm, calcium rich powdered willow bark, flaked oats, powdered seaweed, and mashed raw carrots. 

The main lambing and kidding season begins as January progresses. More lambs and kids are born in the next eight to ten weeks than in any other months.  Consider the “club market” for January lambs and kids or other young animals. Let your local 4-H clubs know what you have or will have available.

And the pre-Lenten carnival season begins this week, a little more than a month before Mardi Gras. Explore marketing lambs and kids for cookouts during this period. Investigate recipes for hot-cross buns, traditional pastries enjoyed before the beginning of Christian Lent.

Mind and Body

Lunar influence will decrease as  the moon wanes. Seasonal affective disorder is frequent and strong throughout the month of January, but the moon will continue to stay out of the mix as it wanes through its relatively weak phases. 

Blossoms from holiday flowers may be fading now, making seed catalogs in the mail and potted plants in grocery stores more welcome. In addition, take advantage of putting in seeds under grow lights in order to start you flowers and vegetables early. The positive effect of fluorescent and grow lights could help to distract you from the clouds and cold. 

Rheumatism in animals and people often increases during the winter. Paprika and molasses are considered helpful in reducing the stiffness in animals’ joints. Try it for your own aches and pains, too!

 

Countdown to Spring

• One week until pines start to pollinate, beginning allergy season

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

• Three weeks until cardinals start to sing before dawn

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

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

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

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

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

• Nine weeks to daffodil time

• Ten weeks to the major wildflower bloom

Almanack Classics

The Case of the Frozen Bullfrogs

By Susan Perkins, Hardtimes Farm, KY

Years ago, when I still lived in Missouri, I would talk on the phone with my friend Carol Reid. We had a lot in common and never ran out of stories to tell. We both loved the country, we both had a milk cow, made garden, picked berries and owned horses. We never ran short of things to talk about.

During one of our conversations she told me her husband brought a mess of bullfrogs home the night before and she cleaned them and put them in the freezer. It was early May.

“Carol,” I said, It’s not frog hunting season.”

 “I know,” she said, “But you know Dave.”

Later that day, a friend stopped by for coffee. Curt and I told him about the frog hunting story. Together, we hatched a plan to give the illegal hunter a lesson he would never forget.

Our friend Delbert called Carol’s house and said,” This is the Missouri conservation department, and we have a report on some illegal frogs that may be in your possession. We are sending a game warden to your house to inspect your freezer.” With that, he hung up.

I waited five minutes and called Carol.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Oh my God, the game warden is on his way to check my freezer for bullfrogs. I have an owl in there I plan on mounting and….”

“Quick,” I said, “Bring them all over here and put them in my freezer and fast, they will never find them here.”

I hung up the phone, and we laughed for ten minutes. Suddenly, a cloud of smoke came over the hill on our dirt road, and we knew it had to be Dave

He came in the upstairs of our house and peeked down the basement steps where we were all sitting in the basement.

“I think someone was following me!” he said out of breath. He ran to the big freezer we kept in our basement and put the frog legs inside.

We waited a respectable amount of time before we ate every one of those frog legs. Years later I told Carol about the joke. She fell out laughing and said, “Dave has never hunted frogs illegally since that day.”

She said,” How dumb could we be….game wardens don’t call before a raid!”

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEK’S SCKRAMBLER

KETAS STAKE 

HEAKS SHAKE

AENKS SNAKE

AETK TAKE 

OAUEPQ OPAQUE

TKSMIAE MISTAKE 

AKELS SLAKE 

OEAKLFNRC CORNFLAKE 

OEAFLKSNW SNOWFLAKE

ARKED DRAKE 

ARKED QUAKE 

THIS WEEK’S RHYMING 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. Yes, you are a genius.

SPYGUM    SSUMOOP

LACCMUI

YASMUL

LAUUMMNI

MUNGERRETNI

IMMAGNESU

MUINOLOP

SHPGANUM

MMMUTOEN

MUMEHTNASYRHC

REFERENDUM  

Poor Will’s Almanack for 2023  is still available. Order yours from Amazon, or, for an autographed copy, order from www.poorwillsalmanack.com. You can also purchase Bill Felker’s new book of essays, The Virgin Point: Meditations in Nature, from those sites.

Copyright 2023 – W. L. Felker