Now groane the Zephyrs;

Poplars shudder, naked

Like the Ears of Asses

Prophesying Storms and Snow.

Now Beasties roll about

And frolick in the Face

of wintry Times! 

Columenus

The Moon: The Mistletoe Moon, full on December 26, wanes through the week, entering its final phase on January 3. Rising in the night and setting in the day, this moon passes overhead before dawn.

The Sun:  Although sunrise time remains stable for another week, days start to lengthen at the rate of 60 seconds every 24 hours - thanks to sunset occurring a minute later every day.

The Planets: In January, Venus in Ophiuchus is still the bright Morning Star, rising in the dark before sunrise.

The Stars: Orion stands in the evening’s eastern sky throughout Deep Winter. Son of the sea-god Poseidon, Orion was said to have been able to walk on the water because of the powers of his father.  After many adventures, Orion was finally killed by a giant scorpion, and Zeus, king of the gods, placed him in the stars.

Weather Trends: As the old year ends, the chances for bitter weather actually decrease from last week’s chances. Below-zero temperatures are rarely recorded between the December 27 and January 1. The mildest day of the period is the 29th; it brings a 25 percent chance for a high above 50 degrees. Each day between the 28th and the 31st even brings a 40 percent chance for a high above 40 degrees. The 30th is the sunniest day, opening a break in the clouds six days out of ten. The 28th and the 31st are the darkest days, each having just a 70 percent chance for totally overcast conditions. Chances for snow decline from those of last week, but watch the odds for rain or sleet to increase as New Year’s Eve approaches.

The Natural Calendar: Multiflora rose buds swell in the sun. The hydrangea heads are drooping, and the Jerusalem artichokes have fallen over. Grasses are pale and bent. Hoary goldenrod and brittle great ragweed have broken. Chicory stalks are leaning. Pokeweed, hollow and empty, rattles in the wind. The snow and the overwintering robins pull off the last honeysuckle berries. Winterberry branches are bending to let down their fruit. Bittersweet hulls continue to split away from their branches. The evergreen foliage of the hardiest herbs and flowers collapses tight against the frozen but nurturing ground: Sweet rocket, garlic mustard, ragwort, celandine, poppies, thistles, chives and parsley crouch in wait for the moons of spring. Sometimes a fat camel cricket will emerge in the kitchen at night, searching for crumbs. 

In the Field and Garden: In the chicken brooders, pullets that will produce summer eggs are hatching. Mites and lice, however, lurk around your chicken coop; check your birds regularly for infestations. 

In the warmth of greenhouses,  bedding plants scheduled to be sold in April and May may have four to six leaves. 

The water for your livestock should remain between 50 and 60 degrees throughout the winter. If you don’t have water warmers, plan on breaking the ice every few hours during the coldest spells. And expect all your pregnant animals to be drinking a lot more as their young develop (if they don’t increase their fluid intake, they may be having problems)! 

Lunar strength and some of the most powerful high-pressure systems of the year continue to create prime conditions for abortions in livestock. Take special care with those animals!. Foxes and coyotes are becoming more active as they begin their courtship rituals. Watch for them frolicking in the fields. And keep the hen house all buttoned up!

Mind and Body: Just when the short days and cold weather tell your body to hibernate and rest after the dramatic changes of autumn, the holiday season sends a different message, says that you should be outgoing, happy and thinking of others. The conflict between those two opposing points of view can cause depression and anxiety. Try to have it both ways. Schedule extra quiet time for yourself before New Year’s Eve.

Markers for progress of spring

Although winter may seem long and gray, its progress slowly unravels spring. Any natural calendar offers reassurance that the coldest days of the year will really and truly lead to warmth.

January 1 – 26: Deep Winter begins - a six week period when high temperatures often stay below freezing and the most snow falls.

January 2: Tufted titmice begin mating calls.

January 4: The Earth reaches perihelion its position closest to the Sun.

January 1-10: Sunrise is the latest of the year in most of the nation.

January 11: The Sun rises earlier for the first time since the middle of June.

January 19 - 23: Average date of the January thaw.

January 26: Cardinals begin their spring mating songs, and Deep Winter ends. 

January 27: The day’s length (now growing at the rate of two minutes each 24 hours) reaches ten hours, and Late Winter begins – a three-week transition to Early Spring.

January 28: Average temperatures start to rise one degree per week.

January 30: The earliest robins and bluebirds arrive from the South.

Almanack Classics

The Untold Story

by Faye Grubb, Cynthiana, KY

A few months before my father’s death at age eighty-six, he shared a story I had never heard. Always a story-teller, he had kept this particular one folded secretly in the pages of his memory. It was the story of his humble birth.

February 7, 1894, his parents Haley and Willis, tenant farmers, were moving to another farm. They packed their sparse belongings into a wagon, and with their seven children, started for a new home. The older children chose to walk in order to play with their dog and look after the milk-cow tethered to the back of the wagon.

Snow clouds hung low in the gray sky and began to release their burden as a raw wind picked up. The children climbed aboard the wagon to huddle for warmth as they endured the bone jarring ride over the frozen ruts in the road.

Darkness was falling as the family topped the final hill of the journey. There was their prospective home, lamplight glowing from the windows. But the house was supposed to be empty! A man answered Willis’ knock and said illness had kept them from moving. Since there was no room for them there he offered the barn for lodging.

Willis pulled the team and wagon into the barn and closed the doors against the winter storm. The featherbeds and bedclothes were unloaded and spread on the stripping-room tables. Warm milk from the cow and food Haley had packed were welcomed before they settled deep in the feather mattresses to sleep.

Around midnight Haley roused her husband. The jolting wagon ride had hastened the arrival of their expected baby. When morning came the children were ecstatic to find a new baby brother. Their big sister Ella said in wonderment: “It’s just like the Christmas Story in the Bible. There was no room for us in the house so the baby came here, ‘midst the animals.” The other children, with eyes bright and shining, listened in awe to her revelation.

I too listened in awe to the story of how my earthly father had been born in lowly circumstances so similar to the ones of my Heavenly Father.

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEK’S SCKRAMBLER

ALUH HAUL

LAML MALL

ALLC CALL

ULAM MAUL

QULSAL SQUALL 

TLSLA STALL

LLHTRA THRALL

LAWL WALL

LWA AWL

LTAL TALL

THIS WEEK’S RHYMING SCKRAMBLER

TOLDNU

JACOLED

LLEDPATRO

EONFLD

DSROEL

WTDOLFO

XTLLDOE

UODFNL      PHUOLD

BHDOEL

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.

Poor Will’s Almanack for 2024 Is Now Available!

For fastest service before Christmas, order your copy from Amazon.com. Or you can order an autographed copy of the Almanack from www.poorwillsalmanack.com. Or send a check for $25.00 to Poor Will at P.O. Box 431, Yellow Springs, Ohio 45387.

Copyright 2023 – W. L. Felker