While seeking the secrets of nature I have watched the salutary effects of stillness and peace on human hearts and minds. I have seen the overpowering beauty of dawns and sunsets reach into troubled breasts and heal hurts that were thought beyond medicine and philosophy. – Sam Campbell

The Moon: The Apple Cider Moon is new on September 14 at 9:40 p.m. Rising in the morning and setting in the evening, this moon is overhead in the middle of the day.

The Sun: As the sun comes close to its equinox position, shadows have reached full autumn length, and this is a good time to measure how far sunlight comes into a south window in the middle of the day. If you mark that position now, you cannot only watch winter approach, but you can also watch spring return with the sun’s passage across your room.

The Planets: Saturn in Aquarius, rising three hours before Jupiter, precedes that planet across the sky throughout the night.

The Stars: Before sunrise throughout September, the southern sky offers a preview of February’s evening sky: Orion due South, the Great Square setting in the west, and spring’s Regulus rising in the east. Instead of a winter forecast, an ominous foretelling of the cold season to come, this sky is a sure promise of an April night when Regulus will have replaced Orion in the middle of the heavens, and when the first stars of the Summer Triangle appear on the horizon.

Weather Trends: The third week of September brings one of the most radical autumnal swings so far in the season. The likelihood of warm 90s or 80s falls sharply throughout the period, with September 18 bringing only a 20 percent chance of highs above the 70s, the first time that has happened since May 6. Each day this week brings at least a 30 percent chance of showers, with the 18th having the highest chance: almost 50 percent. The mornings are chilly, and the possibility of a light freeze grows steadily. Two weeks ago, the odds were high against frost. Now the chance of freezing temperatures to occur in a seven-day period is up to 40 percent. Next week it will be 50 percent. In two more weeks, it will be 80 percent, and in three weeks almost 100 percent.

The Natural Calendar: August’s boneset and July’s wood nettle go to seed as the corn silage harvest picks up speed. Aster bloom peaks. Throughout the pastures, milkweed pods are ready to open. The wingstem bows to sets its seeds. In the perennial garden, late-blooming hostas discard their petals. The cobwebs that blocked summer paths become less common. Butterflies that you might still see in the field and garden: skippers, seallowtails, cabbage whites, sulphurs, coppers, azures, viceroys, monarchs, buckeyes, red admirals, tortoise shells, question marks, commas, pearl crescents, fritillaries and graylings.

Over 100 species of birds have begun to fly south by equinox. Only about 60 migrating species remain above the Ohio Valley, and most of those will be on their way by the close of October.

In the Field and Garden: The waxing moon favors all kinds of planting and transplanting. Get ready to seed or re-seed spring pasture. Spread manure from the chicken coop on bare garden plots that will lie fallow until spring. Bring in winter tomatoes for greenhouse fruit but protect them from whiteflies. Seed your late-autumn greens for October, November and December salads.

Mind and Body: The high average amount of sunlight and the continuing mild temperatures generally keep people in good spirits this week of the year. Although the day has lost three hours since the middle of summer, the remaining 12 hours are usually bright enough to help people maintain emotional balance.

Almanack Classics

The Blue, Speckled Cup

By Becky Corwin-Adams, Englewood, Ohio

My Dad grew up poor on a farm near Defiance, Ohio. There were 11 children in his family. Like most families, they didn’t have much during the Great Depression years.

The children were like stair steps. The oldest child was born before Grandpa went to France during World War I. After Grandpa returned from the war, a new baby was born every two years, just like clockwork. People often told Grandma she should have had one more child to make an even dozen!

When Dad was young, he wanted a bicycle of his own. There was no money for such luxuries. Dad pieced together a bicycle from old bikes he found. The bike had balloon ties. Dad was very proud of his bike.

Dad’s mother baked the best bread. No one could ever duplicate the recipe. Grandma said she used “a pinch of this” and “a pinch of that.” She was constantly baking bread to feed her large family. Often, bread and butter were their dinner. We thought we were in heaven when we visited Grandma on baking day and she gave us a warm loaf of bread to take home. It didn’t last long.

Grandma was very thrifty. She did have electricity but never had running water or indoor plumbing. She could have easily afforded it. I remember visiting her outhouse with the Sears, Roebuck and Co. catalog nearby. When I was very young, I wondered why anyone would sit in that cold outhouse in the winter and read the catalog. Then I found out the catalog wasn’t there to read. Grandma preferred to live a simple life. She had been born in that farmhouse. She didn’t make very many changes during the 76 years she lived there.

Dad grew up drinking water from the well in front of the old farmhouse. Even as an adult, he loved that sulfur-tasting well water. When I was growing up in the sixties, I loved to visit Grandma. Whenever we went to Grandma’s house, the first thing Dad would do is go to the well and pump the handle until the water came out. Grandma always kept a plastic tumbler by the well to drink from. I can still see that blue speckled cup. I often wondered how many people had drunk out of it over the years. Our family was quite large by then. There were over 30 grandchildren. I hated the taste of well water and I definitely was not going to drink from a cup that so many other people had used!

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEK’S SCKRAMBLER

REWC CREW

WEF FEW

LEFW FLEW

EEWRBH HEBREW

WETS STEW

EWD DEW

DIMELW MILDEW

BUSUDE SUBDUE

FUERCW CURFEW

WEP PEW

REWB BREW

 

THIS WEEK’S RHYMING SCKRAMBLER

NASKC

CAJK

KARC

CCRKA

AAKCTT

AATCRTSB

KOCUATB

KIHJAC

LODHBKCA

KLCUMAJBRE

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.

Copyright 2023 – W. L. Felker