Early spring arrives, sun shall be half to equinox on Feb. 18

Feb. 12-18, 2018

In belonging to a landscape, one feels a rightness, at-homeness, a knitting of self and world. This condition of clarity and focus, this being fully present, is akin to what the Buddhists call mindfulness, what Christian contemplatives refer to as recollection, what Quakers call centering down.

-Scott Russell Sanders

Almanac horoscope

The Frolicking Fox Moon wanes until it becomes the new Ducks-Scouting-for-Nests Moon at 4:05 p.m. on Feb. 15. Rising in the morning and setting in the evening, this crescent moon passes overhead near the middle of the day.

During this new moon period, be mindful of mood changes. Often pulse and blood pressure rise at new moon time. People and animals may bleed more easily. An uptick in violence frequently occurs, and psychic phenomena are said to increase. A few studies suggest that more males born after full moon, and more females after new moon.

The sun: On Feb. 18, the sun is halfway to equinox. This landmark in the solar year is called Cross-Quarter Day. The Sun enters the early spring constellation of Pisces on the same day.

The planets: Jupiter and Mars remain the morning stars this week.

The stars: By this time in February, Procyon, the largest star of Canis Minor, replaces the Dog Star due south near 10 p.m. Above it, the twins of Gemini, Castor and Pollux, tell of early spring.

To their right, Orion and the Milky Way have shifted deep into the west, and the Big Dipper has moved well into the northeastern sky – up from its low December and January position, and its pointers, the outside stars of the Dipper, are easily found. By midnight, the first stars of middle summer's Hercules appear in the northeast.

Weather trends

In one of the most radical weather changes of the year, the weekly chances for an afternoon in the 60s swell from last week's 1 in 10, to 5 in 10. Although below-zero temperatures can occur at this time of the year, February's third quarter is the second-last period of early spring in which such cold might be expected (March's first week is the last).

The average amount of snowfall for this week is ordinarily the lowest of the month. The passage of the Feb. 20 cold front marks the end of the snowiest part of the year.

This week of February brings more substance to the natural history of the year, an increase in the number of flower, foliage, insect and bird sightings and bird calls, a weightier accumulation of change than that of last week. Such an accumulation contributes a little more to the seasonal heritage of each region, adds to the composite of time that helps to define the cycles of passage.

What happens along the 40th Parallel in one village is repeated in countless others clustered along that marker, reveals what has already happened in Tennessee, forecasts the future for Wisconsin.

Field and garden

Along the 40th Parallel, the ground temperature is moving above 35 degrees. That means the pastures are starting to grow again. Under the dark moon, seed bedding plants and early vegetables. Plant onions in the ground as soon as the soil is properly prepared.

Fish, game, livestock and birds: Fish may be most active with the moon overhead in the late morning and early afternoon. At night, skunks wander lawns and streets looking for food and mates. By about the 10th week of the year, their breeding cycle comes to a close, their odor ceding to visual and auditory markers of the new season: the robin chorus before dawn, emerging pussy willows, rising daffodil spears, blooming snowdrops and aconites.

Red and silver maples blossom, introducing welcome color to the early spring landscape, as well as offering pollen for early bees.

Marketing notes: Feb. 27 is Dominican Republic Independence Day: Areas that have a sizable population of residents from the Dominican Republic may show an increase in sales of lambs and kids that weigh between 20-35 pounds.

Almanac classics

‘King of the World’

By Ann Dennis

Breeze was a 2-year-old gray Shetland ram. He’d been tutored by an older ram on the possibilities of escape via hoop huts made with cattle panels covered with tarps.

Well, on a light breezy day, I looked out my kitchen window. I was admiring how beautiful my grass paddocks looked. I was happy that we could achieve that “green lawn” look with careful rotation of our flock.

But I was shocked to see our young ram standing proudly as if on show on the top of one our hoop huts. He ignored the up-and-down wavy motion of the tarp in the wind. He stared off to the east as if he were a captain on a ship searching for land.

As I rushed out our door, I called for my 13-year-old daughter. She was halfway up the drive that borders the paddocks and had spotted our “King of the World.” We shooed him off the hut and moved the bale of hay we thought he might have used as a boost to the top.

So what makes this sheep smart? We caught him again on top of the hut, and the bale was back at the side. Being suspicious and willing to believe strange things are possible, I again moved the bale and sent my daughter elsewhere.

After keeping surreptitious watch for several hours, my daughter caught Breeze butting that hay bale back over to the side of the hut.

Needless to say, we don’t leave hay bales out for the sheep to play with anymore!