There is a seasonal exhaustion in the air. The ground is cool and subdued as the hills turn dusky and purple by late afternoon. I pass cleared fields full of stubble, the lank, dark stalks of corn. Milkweeds, where monarchs deposited their eggs, have opened their pods, and the white silk lies over browning grass like wisps of cotton, or is concentrated in spots like the downy feathers of a chicken caught by a fox. – John Hay

The First Week of Late Fall

Phases of the Thin Time Moon

Nov. 1: The Thin Time Moon was new.

Nov. 9: The moon enters its second quarter.

Nov. 15: The moon is full.

Nov. 22: The moon enters its final quarter.

Weather Trends

Highs just in the 30s or 40s were relatively rare during the final week of October, but by the end of November’s first week, they occur 35 percent of the time, and chances rise to over 40 percent by the 10th of the month.

High-pressure systems, preceded by clouds and rain or snow, typically cross the Mississippi River around the 9th and the 14th. The 9th is historically the wettest day of November’s second week. The 13th is the driest. One partly cloudy afternoon in the 60s or 70s comes six years out of 10 during this time of the year, but cold and precipitation are the norm.

The Natural Calendar

The workday begins to shrink more quickly, losing about two minutes every 24 hours: November takes almost an hour from the day’s length along the 40th Parallel.

From today through the third week of the month is the normal rutting period for whitetail deer in the central part of the country. Male deer lose their antler velvet, rub and scrape on branches, and chase does. Rutting is also thought to contribute to the great increase in the number of accidents involving cars and deer. Half of those incidents happen between 6 p.m. and midnight – and almost all of them occur when weather conditions are mild and clear.

Sunni Muslims celebrate Muhammad’s birthday tomorrow. Shia Muslims celebrate on the 17th. You might expect a rise in Halal meat sales near this time.

Many people who live above the 40th Parallel may now begin to experience Vitamin D deficiency as cloud cover thickens.

Remaining in Virgo, Mars continues to rise in the east well before the sun comes up and is the red Morning Star. Travelling with Ophiuchus, Venus and Jupiter rise near dawn and move across the sky during the day, visible in some locations in the far west near sundown. Very low in the southwest in the early evening, Saturn disappears in the middle of the night.

In the Field and Garden

Consider applying nitrogen, phosphate, and potash to the fields after harvest in order to decrease the springtime workload. Finish the fences and outbuilding repairs before the weather turns colder. Eliminate the drafts from the livestock barn but not the ventilation.

Don’t forget ventilation in the beehives. Clustering bees produce water vapor in the hive, and if it is not removed, it condenses on the inside of the hive top and comes back down on the bees in the form of very cold rain which can chill and even kill the bees.

Purchase amaryllis and paperwhite bulbs before they disappear from the stores. Start some of them now so you will have blossoms through the holiday season.

Fertilize trees and shrubs: leaf drop should be complete on most plantings except forsythia and Osage orange. Cut wood. Remove tops from everbearing raspberries.

Almanack Classics

Old Outhouse Archeology

By Jay Budde, Archbold, Ohio

When Barbara and I purchased an 1870s farmstead on Lauber Hill in Fulton County, Ohio, a few years ago, the property’s history was much of the appeal to us. This was the first home settled in German Twp. We did not dream we would ever find the shallowly buried “treasure” we uncovered when we purchased an outhouse recently.

Yes, we bought a, vintage wooden one-holer at auction from a Defiance area fruit farmer. Transporting the outhouse 20 miles in a small pickup is a story for another time. What we learned about our property and its owners when we looked for the right spot for the “new” old outhouse involved a little outhouse archeology.

With a little intuition, luck and probing with a rebar, we found the concrete foundation of a 4’ x 4’ pit – clearly the footprint of an outhouse – behind the smokehouse. My wife’s studies in history told her that families deposited much of their discarded history in their outhouses, so the decision to dig was made. Fortunately, we had friends visiting who had not read Tom Sawyer and agreed to help us dig for historic treasure.

After two feet of brick bats (who’s idea was this?), several hours and 3½ feet of digging, we ran out of energy and interest, but we did find treasure and history: a plastic toy rifle (1950s layer), cracked plow share (1940s layer) and numerous dinnerware, medicine bottles, crockery and metal household items. You get the idea.

The lesson? There may be more deposited in your old outhouse pit than you think. We recommend leaving it there for future archeologists.

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