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As days lengthen, the S.A.D. highs fall, but not fast enough

Jan. 11-17, 2010
The good observer of nature exists in fragments, a trait here and a trait there. Each person sees what it concerns him to see.
-John Burroughs
Lunar phase and lore

The Tufted Titmouse Moon becomes the Skunk Cabbage Moon on Jan. 15 at 2:11 a.m. That moon will be overhead, its most powerful position, near the middle of the day this week. Fish, livestock and children are typically hungrier when the moon is overhead, and dieters are more sorely tempted by pie at lunchtime."

The new Skunk Cabbage Moon, this year’s January-February moon, favors the seeding of bedding plants and frost-hardy vegetables in flats under lights. Only eight weeks stand between your strongest seeds and early March soil.

New-moon time is second only to full-moon time for the incidence of crime and accidents. Health care workers may see an increase in disease, and police could expect more problems with disorderly citizens.
Weather patterns

The second week of January shows rapidly increasing odds for colder weather. Chances for highs only in the 20s or teens increase to near 50 percent on Jan. 14 and 15. Below-zero readings occur most often on Jan. 16.

With a general increase in the cold, skies have fewer clouds this week of the year, with Jan. 12, 13, 15 and 16 bringing a 60 percent chance for sun. Precipitation occurs two years out of three between Jan. 12-14, and Jan. 14 historically brings snow more often than any other day of the entire year.

By the middle of the month, the sun reaches a declination of 21 degrees, 9 minutes, about 10 percent of the way to spring equinox. The ninth of winter’s 16 major cold fronts usually arrives on Jan. 15. After that, only seven more big storm windows in the winter remain.

Almanac daybook

Jan. 11: In milder years, the foliage of crocus, columbine, purple deadnettle, catnip, forget-me-not, garlic mustard, dandelion, wild onion, celandine, hemlock and henbit expands slowly between cold fronts.

Jan. 12: Arcturus, the star of early summer, appears in the east after midnight tonight, and farm and garden seeds normally reach retail outlets by today.

Jan. 13: This month may be the time to lime your soil (if a soil test indicates you need it). Since lime reacts slowly with the ground, you should spread it a few months before planting. You could also apply lime to the surface of no-till fields. In the bulb garden, scatter bone meal.

Jan. 14: Seed your early bedding plants, peppers and tomatoes in flats as the moon turns new. If you don’t have a shop light, now is the time to get one. Place it close to the flats for heat and light.
Jan. 15: Today is new moon day, and lunar power is likely to enhance the cold front due to cross the Mississippi near this date. After this high moves east, however, the chances for a slight warm-up increase.

During January’s third week in 1890, one of the longest record-breaking thaws in weather history warmed temperatures into the 60s for three days across the Midwest and East.

Jan. 16: Florists and grocery stores are carrying spring daffodils and tulips, either potted or as cut flowers. In the South and the border states, hellebores are blossoming.

Jan. 17: Dependable companions in the cold winter mornings, crows now become more boisterous; their migration typically starts near this date. Juncos begin their migratory movement in mid-January, too. Those birds can often be seen flocking by the roadsides, gathering for their journey to Canada.

Living with the seasons

Force all the hardy bulbs you can for the coldest days of winter. If you haven’t already prepared your bulbs, check with the local nursery to see if they have some left. Or, if the ground is not frozen solid, go out, dig up a few that you can spare from your March or April garden and tell them it’s spring.

The January Thaw is ordinarily a good time to spray trees for scales and mites. But don’t spray if a freeze is expected within 24 hours. Keep plenty of lukewarm water available for your chickens when temperatures fall below freezing. Egg production can be expected to decline when highs stay below 30 degrees, but warm water will help keep the hens happy and, hopefully, laying a little.

The S.A.D. Index declines from a high of 75 (as high as it gets this winter) down into the lower 70s by Jan. 14. But that’s still too high for anyone who suffers from S.A.D.

The breaths of the year

A modern calendar measures passage and movement in months, weeks and days, neglecting other gauges like star time, sun time, moon time and weather time. Among those alternate systems, weather time may be the most neglected.

The elements of weather time are the 70 weather systems (give or take a few) that traverse the country, like deep breaths of the planet, between one winter and the next. These weather fronts move more quickly in the colder months (October through March, bringing up to eight waves of high pressure in each month). The warmer months between April and September are more likely to have six or fewer fronts apiece.

Every season and every year brings a similar number of cold or cool waves, and these are usually predictable within a few days. Changes in plants, animals and even people keep pace with those weather systems events and can be measured by them. The natural year unfolds, then, as a dynamic metronome, a resource of cadence and balance.

When all 70 fronts of the year have passed across your property, the seasons are set to come back again. Of course, the calendar can easily tell you what day it is, but it can’t really let you feel your place in the turning clock of the world. The weather – if you will only count and keep track of its breaths – can.

The Almanack will pay $3 for any original, unusual animal or family story. Send your tale to: Poor Will, P.O. Box 431, Yellow Springs, OH 45387. An extra $3 will be paid if the story is used in the annual Almanack for 2011.

Follow the progress of the year with Poor Will’s Almanack for 2010. Mail $16 (includes shipping and handling) for each copy to: Poor Will, P.O. Box 431, Yellow Springs, OH 45387. To order by credit card, visit http://poorwills almanack.com

1/6/2010