Jan. 3-9, 2011

The sun swings slowly north, in our way of seeing it; days lengthen; the season of life renewed, which we call Spring is already established in the earth as among the stars.

-Hal Borland (Suggested by R.N.)

Lunar phase and lore

The Orchid Moon, becoming the new Jessamine Moon on Jan. 4 at 4:03 a.m., waxes throughout the week, entering its second quarter Jan. 12 at 6:31 a.m. Leaving Capricorn on Jan. 4, this moon moves into Aquarius on Jan. 5, fertile Pisces on Jan. 7 and Aries on Jan. 10.

Under the new Jessamine Moon in Capricorn and Pisces, plant all of the bedding plants you have. As the barometer falls in advance of the cold waves due Jan. 5 and 10, seeds should be eager to sprout, and fish and game should increase feeding and movement – especially in the afternoons, when the moon is overhead.

Since the moon may exert less influence on ocean tides and on human and animal behavior when it comes into its second and fourth quarters, you might find it easier to transport animals or perform routine maintenance for your livestock on or about Jan. 12 and 26. And if you are planning surgery or dental work, consider scheduling it for the last week of this month, under the next dark moon.

Venus begins the year as the morning star in Ophiuchus, rising in he east well before dawn. Mars follows Venus in Capricorn about an hour before daylight. Jupiter is the evening star this month, in the far west in Pisces after sundown. Saturn is in Virgo, rising after midnight and reaching the middle of the heavens by sunrise.

The month’s days with the highest frequency of precipitation (better than 50 percent) in the lower Midwest are Jan. 8, 10, 12-14, 17, 21-24 and 30. The driest days, those with about 20 percent chance for rain or snow, are Jan. 18 and 27-28.

Precipitation is most likely to fall as snow (a 40 percent chance or better) on Jan. 10, 14, 22, 24 and 30.

Daybook

Jan. 3: Even though the sun reaches perihelion today, the harshest period of the year has begun. Between now and the end of the month, average temperatures are the coldest of the year.

Jan. 4: Under the snow, crocus leaves may be growing, along with the foliage of columbine, creeping Charlie, catnip, forget-me-not, garlic mustard, dandelion, wild onion, celandine and henbit.

Jan. 5: The second major cold wave of 2011 typically crosses the Mississippi on or near this date. The moon in Aquarius today and tomorrow does not favor planting, but get ready to get all the rest of your seeds for March and April planting seeded between Jan. 7-9 when the moon is in Pisces.

Jan. 6: If you have pregnant ewes or does, consider marketing their offspring to the Easter market. Both Roman and Orthodox Easter celebrations occur on April 24 this year. Explore your options now; most sales occur several weeks before Easter itself.

Jan. 7: Winter cress, thistle, mullein and red clover are all bright green in the fields. Milkweed pods are completely empty now. Squirrels are active in the sun, chasing one another and scouting for food. Downy woodpeckers climb up and down on the brittle stalks of goldenrod, ironweed and wingstem.

Jan. 8: Fox mating time and coyote mating season take place as owls nest in the woodlots. Pine tree pollination brings pine pollen to the Northern states. At bird feeders, sparrows become even louder as sparrow courting season follows the lengthening days.

Jan. 9: Clusters of orange euonymus (winterberry) berries comes down as January advances, one of the many gauges of the passage of deep winter.

The moons of 2011

As the sun moves deeper into Aquarius, a new cycle of growth and decline begins in the landscape, marked by the names of its moons. The first moon of 2011 is January’s Jessamine Moon, the moon that presides over the first blooming vines along the Gulf Coast.

February’s Moon is the Bluebonnet Moon, that announces the blossoming of the desert and the gradual advance of early spring north toward the Ohio Valley. All along the 40th Parallel, pussy willows emerge under the Pussy Willow Moon of March.

April’s moon is the Morel Mushroom Moon, that brings out morel mushrooms and parallels the great dandelion and crabapple bloom. Under May’s Clover Moon, clovers of all colors and sizes are the harbingers of the best of pasture time throughout the country.

June ripens the Mulberry Moon for pies, and July’s dog days coax out soft-petaled touch-me-nots under the Touch-Me-Not Moon.

The Ragweed Moon carries pollen and harvest to late August and September. The Leafturn Moon follows September and October’s coloration from the North all the way to the South.

This is followed by the Second Spring Moon of October and November, when the undergrowth starts to revive after leafdrop.

The Sandhill Crane Migration Moon of November and December is the last moon of the natural year of 2011, followed by the first moon of 2012, the Camelback Cricket Moon, which calls these crickets from your basement to bless you with luck.

Through all of this, our own days and moods might be named and fashioned according to the world we encounter, our events and phases like the turning moons, showing and teaching in private seasons.