Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,

Old time is still a-flying;

And this same flower that smiles today

Tomorrow will be dying. – Robert Herrick

The Phases of the Moon

May 25: The Moon enters its second quarter.

May 31: The Moon is full.

The Sun

May 21st, the sun reaches a declination of 20 degrees nine minutes, that’s almost 90 percent of the way to summer solstice. The period between that date and July is the most stable solar time of summer.

The Stars

Cassiopeia has moved deep into the northern night sky behind Polaris, the north star, by this time of May, and Cepheus, which looks a little like a house lying on its side, is beginning to come around to the east of Polaris. When Cepheus is due east of the north star, then it will be the middle of July. When it lies due south of Polaris, then the leaves will be turning. When it lies due west of Polaris, it will be the middle of Deep Winter.

The Weather in the Week Ahead

The final week of May is typically a wet one, with completely overcast conditions more common than during any other time of the month. On the 25th, 26th and 27th rain falls almost half the time, and the 29th is one of the rainiest days in the whole year. Average temperature distribution for this time of the month is as follows: 5 percent chance of highs in the 90s, 30 percent of 80s, 30 percent of 70s, 25 percent of 60s, and 10 percent of 50s. The brightest days of the week are usually the 27th and 30th.

Natural Calendar

Haying begins above the Ohio River, then tobacco planting, then cantaloupe and pumpkin seeding, then commercial sunflower seeding. Then come thistle blossoms and the first ripe strawberries and the hatching of the last goslings and ducklings, the heading of winter wheat and the end of soybean planting in dryer years, the spawning of bass in farm ponds, and the completion of the canopy overhead.

Winter landmarks disappear and vistas close. Paths are concealed and blocked. Now there is a certain privacy, a forced myopia, a different dynamic for many humans, a vague sense of vulnerability in the loss of familiar objects, fewer options to track the sun and stars.

There is also a new safety. The time of closing offers protection for insects and fledglings. Mayflies come out along the reeds of riverbanks. Webworms weave nests in the protection of the full coverlet of trees. Warblers travel the wooded flyways. (John and Lisa so many last week, and Aida reported hearing her first towhee.) Firefly larvae mature in the shelter of dark grasses. Adult robins guide their young through the dense understory with staccato messaging. The shade of the canopy provides sanctuary for people and other mammals, as well, offers respite from the heat, creates welcome privacy and a hiding place in nature.

In the Field and Garden

You can tell that Early Summer is underway WHEN certain things happen…..  And when those things happen, THEN….other seasons begin, too.

When the first monarch butterfly arrives from the Gulf, then young coyotes come after chickens and new lambs.

When May apples have fruit the size of a cherry and honeysuckle flowers have all come down, then cucumber beetles reach the economic threshold on the farm.

When yucca plants send up their stalks, then Japanese beetles start to attack roses and ferns.

When the oak leaf hydrangea produces its first blooms, then fall webworms and mimosa webworm eggs are hatching.

When daylilies bloom by the roadsides, then watch for winter wheat to turn a soft, pale green.

When catalpa trees come into bloom, then look for the first raspberries to redden.

Almanack Literature

A Wood Stove Story

Submitted for Poor Will’s Wood Stove Story Contest

By Myrna Glass, St. Mary’s, Ohio

I am 83 years old. This story happened before my birth, but it was spoken of quite often.

My dad was a very small man, weighing not too much over 100 pounds. He worked hard as a plasterer and mason, a job usually held by much larger men. He was lots of fun and enjoyed a good joke, even when the joke was on him.

Mother cooked for our large family on a wood stove. After a hard day’s work, Dad would chop enough wood to keep the stove going.

Now before this particular day, mother had reminded dad – several times – that her wood supply was getting low, but he had not gotten around to cutting any.

A nephew, Harvey, worked for dad. Imagine their surprise when they came home for supper to find mother’s solution to being out of wood!

A fence rail was stuck into the woodbox of the stove, cooking supper. The other end of the rail was supported by a kitchen chair.

My cousin, Harvey, got a big kick out of seeing that, and it took my dad a long time to live down that joke. It was fun growing up in a family that often found humorous solutions to our problems instead of yelling at each other.

Follow the summer with Bill Felker’s A Daybook for May in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and A Daybook for June in Yellow Springs, Ohio. These daybooks contain all the nature notes used to create Poor Will’s Almanack. Order yours from Amazon.

Copyright 2026: W. L. Felker