If there is nothing new on the earth, still the traveler always has a resource in the skies. They are constantly turning a new page to view. The wind sets the types on this blue ground, and the inquiring may always read a new truth there. There are things there written with such fine and subtle tinctures, paler than the juice of limes, that to the diurnal eye they leave no trace, and only the chemistry of night reveals them. – Henry David Thoreau

The Cardinal Mating Moon waxes

The Cardinal Mating Moon waxes throughout the week, entering its second quarter at 10:20 a.m. on Jan. 28. Rising in the middle of the day and setting in the middle of the night, this moon passes overhead near dusk.

The Sun: On Jan. 31, the sun reaches one-fourth of its way to spring equinox. Now the days are over 10-hours long and the night is about three-quarters of an hour shorter than it was just five weeks ago.

The Planets: Moving retrograde into Aquarius, Venus and Saturn remain the Evening Stars in the month ahead. Jupiter in Cetus, still following Venus and Saturn, is visible low in the northwest after dark. Mars remains in Taurus, prominent overhead through the night.

The Stars: The middle of the night this week shows off all the bright, imposing stars of Orion and Canis Major (with its huge light, Sirius) and Canis Minor (with its slightly less prominent star, Procyon). You may also be able to make out Cancer, looking a little like a person walking, following behind those winter dogs.

Weather Trends 

Jan. 26 is the first day of the season of Late Winter. This season contains five to six major cold fronts and lasts through Feb. 18. Although this period can be one of the coldest of the year in the North, its thaws accelerate the swelling of pussy willows and the blooming of the earliest bulbs. Average temperatures rise one degree per week, starting on Jan. 28. Often, the transition days to February are mild, creating the prophetic Groundhog Day Thaw.

The Natural Calendar: The foliage of the oak-leaf hydrangea has fallen in the past weeks. The Osage fruits have turned deep red-brown. The berries of the euonymus are falling from their decaying, once protective sepals. Black walnuts are dark and collapsing and fall away at the touch of your heel. Only a few box elder seeds are hanging from their branches.

Cued by changes in last year’s flora, fresh growth often emerges on the Japanese honeysuckle, its leaves venturing out from the axils of the woody vines. In the garden, a few red nubs of peonies may have appeared. Garlic mustard is lush on the hillsides. In the swamps, young poison hemlock is feathery and spreading. New ragwort and sweet rocket leaves are pushing up.

By the close of January, the steady growth of the day’s length intensifies mating cycles, and cardinal song begins to consistently precede sunrise by about half an hour. As January comes to a close, the season of cardinal mating song coincides with the season of robin and bluebird migration, both seasons announcing the first blossoms of aconites and snowdrops in the warmest microclimates. Early arrival of Tundra Swans is possible now along the Lake Erie shore.

In the Field and Garden 

Now is the time to reevaluate your hay supply for nutrient levels. Unless you know the quality of your forage, it is difficult to make sound management decisions concerning the amount of supplements to provide your animals. And – except for genes – nutrients are the most important part of developing your herd and flock.

There is no better time than January to force daffodils and tulips into bloom. If you don’t have any, go out and cut a pussy willow branch, put it in some nice warm sugar water and then watch March appear.

You may need to spray the flowers of indoor tomato plants with a setting agent in order to convince them to bear fruit in the dark cold days ahead.

Out in the heated chicken houses, pullets which will produce summer eggs are hatching. In the barn, expectant ewes, does and cows quietly nurture their babies to be born a few weeks from now.

Mind and Body: 

Although your spirits may be lagging because of the winter cold and darkness, your asthma may have improved over the past weeks: Some research shows that, in spite of the arrival of pine tree pollen on southern winds, January is the best month of the year for those afflicted with other kinds of allergies.

Countdown to Spring

• Cardinals start to sing before dawn any day now

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

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

• Four weeks to the first snowdrop bloom and the official start of Early Spring

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

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

• Seven weeks to daffodil time

• Eight weeks to the major wildflower bloom

• Nine weeks until the yellow blossoms of forsythia bushes appear

• 10 weeks to tulip season

Almanack Classics

My Cousin Ruby

By Bill Wiseman, Popcorn Ridge, Vevay, Ind.

Many years ago, my cousin Ruby and I went to the same school. She was in 9th grade (a few grades ahead of me) and was a little bit slow doing her lessons and homework.

There were a few boys in class on the Honor Roll. Well, Ruby made a real “come on” for one of them and went steady with him all though high school. He was really helpful with her homework and lessons.

Later after graduation, she bought a car. The old crate was about worn out and needed a lot of repair. So Ruby dated the local first-class auto mechanic. Almost married him, but she got her old car completely overhauled.

Next step in her life, Ruby bought a house that needed a new roof, among other major repairs. This time, she married a residential contractor who had a brother that was a roofer. Far-fetched as it may seem, she ended up single with a house in first-class condition.

Thinking back now to our school days, I realize Ruby may have been a little slow on school work, but she was right up there on getting things accomplished.

No telling what else had gone on that we don’t know about, but Ruby is up in years now and married to a mortician.

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEK’S 

SCKRAMBLER

TERTUB BUTTER

CUTRET CUTTER

ULCTETR CLUTTER

LFURTET FLUTTER

RETTUG GUTTER

RTETMU MUTTER

TUPTRE PUTTER

SHURETT SHUTTER

TETRLUSP            SPLUTTER

TRSUTETR            STRUTTER

TUTRE UTTER

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.

LUBTSRE

USBRET

RETSULC

TERDUS

RETULF

USJRET

ERUSTL

MUTSRE

RESTRUHT

TRUSTER

DAUJSETR

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