Oct. 18-24, 2010
Under morning frosts the maple leaves turn scarlet,
In the evening dusk, the mists grow shadowy.
-Hsieh Ling-yun (5th Century A.D.)
Lunar phase and lore

The Cricketsong Moon waxes through the period, becoming full on Oct. 22 at 8:36 p.m. Beginning the week in Pisces, the moon passes into Aries on Oct. 20, into fertile Taurus on Oct. 23 and on into Gemini on Oct. 25.

Before the moon turns full, seed winter wheat and rye as conditions dictate. Bring in the corn and soybeans. Spread fertilizer on the pastures. The most propitious days for planting bulbs will be under Taurus and Gemini.

The fifth major cold front of the month comes through around Oct. 23. When south winds blow and the barometer falls in advance of that system, hunting and fishing should be the most productive, especially with the moon overhead in the evening.

The Orionid meteors appear in Orion during the early morning hours of Oct. 21 and 22. The Oct. 23 is Cross-Quarter Day, the halfway mark between autumn equinox and winter solstice. The sun’s declination reaches a minus 11 degrees, 38 minutes on that date and enters Scorpio at the same time. Within a little more than a month of equinox, the sun has traveled half the distance to winter.

Weather patterns
This week often brings a slight warming trend to the region, and the average number of sunny days in the 70s increases by 30 percent over that of last week. An afternoon in the 30s or 40s would be unusual, and occurs only twice in a decade at this time of October.

Still, it is close to the end of middle fall. Nighttime temperatures in the 20s occur 40 percent of the time, and a dawn in the teens happens at least once every decade.

Daybook
Oct. 18: “St. Luke’s Little Summer,” a traditional time of clear, dry weather starts today and ends Oct. 28.

Oct. 19: Make sure your horses’ blankets are ready for the winter. Have your animals put on weight? You don’t want the blankets to be too tight.

Oct. 20: Your horses may drink much less as the autumn weather chills their water. Experiment with heated water to encourage hydration in horses, as well as in other livestock. Heated water may offer special benefits to older animals.

Oct. 21: The first signs of seasonal affective disorders may occur in some people at October’s full moon (the 22nd). The shortening day, colder weather and the increased likelihood of cloud cover combine with lunar influence to challenge those who are sensitive to seasonal mood swings.

On the plus side, the shorter days bring a surge of autumn energy to many animals and people; take advantage of that energy to speed through your autumn tasks. You may begin to slow down in November and December.

Oct. 22: The weather system of October’s fourth week is one of the most dependable of the month’s fronts. It moves across the nation between Oct. 20-25, bringing precipitation and cold temperatures. And today is full moon day, almost certain to bring frost throughout the upper half of the nation as it combines with the cold front due tomorrow.

Oct. 23: Today is Cross-Quarter Day, when the sun reaches halfway to winter solstice. The rapid advance of the sun toward winter accelerates changes in the color of leaves, as well as causing changes in hormonal patterns for humans, livestock and wild game.
Oct. 24: The waning moon is now favorable for pruning shrubs or trees to retard growth, and for killing weeds. Also, plant scillas, snowdrops, tulips, daffodils and crocuses for spring flowers.
Even though you don’t eat these flowers, they are especially important to homesteaders: They provide markers that help you tell the time of year, and they also help fight the end-of-the-winter blues.

Countdown to late fall

This third week of October, leaf color reaches its very best in Clark County. The chemical changes in the foliage that became noticeable six weeks ago have suddenly accelerated. In town and country, the fragile landscape has turned all at once.

Shagbark hickory, some maples, sweet gum, oak, sassafras, sycamore, ash and cottonwood are at their best. Many buckeyes are bare. Redbud leaves are falling, some gone, catalpas faded, Osage half yellow, some falling.

Blueberry bushes are completely red, vineyards yellow and brown, only a few grapes left. Some ginkgoes are pale golden green, some just a little faded.

Walking in the woods, you can see the sky through the thinning canopy. Scattered frost sometimes curls the box elders and hackberries. About a third of the slippery elms hang on, but Virginia creeper leaves have finally fallen.

Locusts, box elders and most ash are gone, marking the end of the first phase of leaf drop – which occurs during the height of oak and maple coloration.

The great Asian ladybug migration takes place throughout the United States during the last two weeks of October. Welcome these bugs to your property, even though they may come indoors and wander all over your windows. They eat aphids and other harmful insects throughout the warmer months, and forecast the arrival of spring in the cold days of February.

If the bugs have taken over your house, you can vacuum them up with a small hand-held vacuum cleaner, and empty the bag outside. The bugs usually survive without too much psychological damage.

Almanac literature classics
Mark and the Skunk
By Lucille K. Doenges
New Bremen, Ohio

This is a true story about a skunk. It happened 50 years ago, but it’s still fresh in my mind.

My husband and another man were working on the roof of a garage right outside our house. Our little boys were playing nearby. All at once I heard my husband yell. A skunk had come in our yard and was on top of our 13-month old baby, Mark.

My husband grabbed a board and managed to kill the skunk without hurting Mark. The skunk had tried to bite Mark through his diaper. There were tooth marks on his buttocks. No skin had been torn.

We called the doctor. He told us we had to call the sheriff. He wanted to know what happened to the skunk. When we told him we had killed it, the sheriff came out immediately and picked up the dead skunk. It would be taken to Columbus to be tested for rabies. It is unusual for skunks to come up to where there are people, and especially in the daytime.

A few days later, we were informed that the skunk was rabid, and we were to take Mark to our family doctor. The state would send the serum that was necessary, and Mark would get a shot every day for 14 consecutive days.

So every morning, Mark and I would head for St. Mary’s. He was so good about it. He knew why we were going. He never cried or acted as if he didn’t want to go. He would walk into the office and get on the cot without a complaint.

When the nurse gave him the shot, he would let out a little cry and give the nurse a really dirty look. He got a shot in the stomach one day and the next day, in the buttock. His body looked like it had been scalded after two weeks were up.

The nurse felt worse than Mark after several days. She would give him a sucker. He would say “thanks” and “goodbye.” The shots never seemed to bother him, but I was very glad when those two weeks were over.

Lucille’s story has an important moral: Always be suspicious of animals (wild or domestic) that are acting in a way you don’t think animals should be acting. Stay away from them!