Vast overhanging meadow-lands of rain,

And drowsy dawns, and noons when golden grain

Nods in the Sun , and lazy truant boys

Drift ever listlessly down the day,

Too full of joy to rest, and dreams to play. – James Whitcomb Riley

The Moon: The Wild Black Raspberry Moon, new on the June 18, waxes until it enters its second quarter at 3:51 a.m. on June 26.

The Sun: Summer solstice occurred on June 21 at 9:58 a.m. EST. The sun enters the Deep Summer sign of Cancer at the same time. Throughout this week, the days are the longest and the nights are the shortest of the year.

The Planets: Saturn in Aquarius is visible in the east before dawn. Jupiter in Aries, rising after Saturn, is the brightest Morning Star.

The Stars: Early risers see the sky the way it will look in late September: The Milky Way overhead, the Great Square covering most of the southeast, huge Cygnus the swan shifting west, following bright Vega. June’s Corona Borealis will be setting now, and the first sign of winter, Aldebaran of the constellation Taurus, will have just emerged in the northeast.

Weather Trends: The likelihood of rain diminishes this week of the year, and the period brings at least four days which are historically favorable for field work. Chances of completely overcast conditions decline to less than 20 percent. Temperatures are usually warm, with only 35 percent of the afternoon highs remaining below 80 degrees. Hot 90s occur at least 20 percent of the time. Lows are in the 60s most nights, but 50s and 40s occur up to 40 percent of the time. 

The Natural Calendar: Pokeweed, thimble plant, wood mint, figwort, tall nettle and black-eyed Susans flower in the fields. Avens and enchanter’s nightshade open in the woods, lizard’s tail in the rivers and lakes. Oaks and black walnut trees and Osage orange have set their fruit. There are bud clusters on the milkweeds, buds on the delicate touch-me-nots, buds on the giant blue hostas, buds on the yuccas, the purple coneflowers, the mallow, the balloon flowers and the gayfeathers. Wild strawberries are red. Chickweed dies back, exhausted and matted. May apple foliage is yellowing, and brown seeds drop from the small-flowered crowfoot.

Early monarch butterfly caterpillars eat the carrot tops. This year’s ducklings and goslings are nearly full grown. Daddy longlegs are everywhere in the brambles, and damselflies haunt the rivers. Mosquitoes, chiggers and ticks have reached their Deep Summer strength in the deep woods. Cricket hunters hunt crickets in the garden.

In the Field and Garden: Strawberry season ends while domestic red raspberries and wild black raspberries ripen. The wheat harvest begins in the Lower Midwest, bright orange butterfly weed reaches full bloom, and acorns (a favorite food of deer) become fully formed. Thistles go to seed as corn borers eat the corn and early soybeans bloom.

Mind and Body: The outlook for this week of June is almost always positive. Solstice is not so much the beginning of summer as it is the pinnacle of the year. Even though the full moon next week is expected to contribute to thunderstorms and put an end to moderate temperatures and low humidity, the next few days, the longest days of all, bring the year to high tide, the peak of all of the seasonal momentum of April and May. 

Almanack Classics 

The Unflinching Duck

By Doris Mae Kaster, Fairland, Ind.

One evening a friend of mine called to say that something had gotten hold of their pet duck and had torn a big hole in its skin. Since I had ducks also, she thought I’d know what to do.

I went to take a look at the duck. They had her in a box with water and food, which she was totally ignoring. She was just lying there with her head down very defeated.

I decided the opening should be closed somehow, and the duck might be all right as long as it didn’t get infected. So, after a call to the veterinarian friend of ours, I proceeded with white thread and needle to stitch a tear from breast to thigh.

That duck lay perfectly still while the operation went on, never even flinched once. When I finished, I put her back into the box, and she stood up on both feet, took a drink of water, and quacked as if to say ‘Thank you.’

She healed fine, and went on to lay eggs and live a good duck’s life for several years.

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEK’S 

SCKRAMBLER

PEPRICH CHIPPER

RIPLEPC CLIPPER

RIPIPSL SLIPPER

IDPREP DIPPER

PEPRIK KIPPER

ILFPEPR FLIPPER

REPZIP ZIPPER

RRPPEI RIPPER

PERPIN NIPPER

KISPEPR SKIPPER

HSPIPRE SHIPPER  

 

THIS WEEK’S RHYMING 

SCKRAMBLER

DZZLAE

LEZRAZF

ZELFIZR

RDZILZE

ELZZIRG

ZISEZL

UELZMZ

PUZEZL

GELZUZ

UNELZZ

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.

Follow the summer with Bill Felker’s A Daybook for June in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and A Daybook for July in Yellow Springs, Ohio. These daybooks are applicable to the entire Lower Midwest and contain all the nature notes used to create Poor Will’s Almanack. Order yours from Amazon. You can also purchase Bill Felker’s new book of essays, The Virgin Point, there.

Copyright 2023 – W. L. Felker