Feb. 8-14, 2010
The first stage in the progress of spring is the sighting of “firsts;” first bluebird, first robin, first turkey vulture and so forth. After that, quantity counts as much  as novelty. The number of robins, the number of blackbirds, the number of blooming bulbs, the number of pussy willow catkins emerging take on more and more importance until the next stage of the year arrives, the stage at which all the old first creatures and events and numbers are commonplace and give way to new firsts and new quantities.

-Poor Will’s notebook
Lunar phase and lore

The dark Skunk Cabbage Moon wanes through its final quarter this week, becoming the new Running Maple Sap Moon at 9:51 p.m. on Feb. 13. Rising before dawn and setting in the afternoon, this moon is overhead in the middle of the day.

Lunar position this week suggests that the most fish will bite as the air and water warm up near midday. Dieters may have trouble refraining from pie at that time, as well. As the cold fronts of Feb. 11 and 15 approach, fish should become more active, and children should eat more.

As the moon waxes throughout the remainder of the month, the sap should start to flow, reaching its early spring peak on Feb. 28, full moon day. This is one of the finest lunar planting weeks of the year for flowers and vegetables that produce their fruit above the ground. Put your seeds in flats under lights and keep them moist and warm.

Weather patterns
By Feb. 14, chances for highs in the 20s or below fall to only 10 percent, and by Feb. 15 chances for temperatures above 50 degrees jump to 40 percent per day – the highest so far this year. Chances for highs in the 60s suddenly start to increase, too: Feb. 18 brings a 20 percent chance for such warmth.

On Feb. 18, the sun reaches halfway to equinox, entering Pisces at the same time. This event is called Cross-Quarter Day, and it brings in the season of early spring, a six-week period of changeable conditions, infiltrated ever so slowly by warmer and warmer temperatures that finally bring the first trees and daffodils to bloom.

By the middle of February, normal average temperatures have started to rise two degrees a week instead of one. Normal highs get into the middle 30s in northern counties of Indiana and Ohio, and lows come close to 20. In northern Kentucky, average highs are 45, lows, 25.

The last of winter’s 16 cold fronts usually arrives by Feb. 15. This is it, the very last of the worst of winter 2010. By Feb. 18, you can begin counting down to middle spring – a season which will get here on the backs of your daffodils.

Almanac daybook

Feb. 8: In the East, groundhogs come out of hibernation in milder years. You may see them eating the new grass or digging for roots by the side of the road.

Other Zeitgebers (event in nature that tell the time of year) for this week include sleepy flies and cabbage moths emerging in your greenhouse or sunroom, the arrival of red-winged blackbirds in Midwestern wetlands and continued activity of skunks, raccoons and opossums after dark.

Feb. 9: Sunset now occurs near 6 p.m. along the 40th Parallel for the first time since Oct. 12. Cedar waxwings, horned larks and snow buntings are migrating. Moss grows and flowers on logs in the sun.
Feb. 10: Under the dark moon, you can plant onions directly in the ground as soon as the soil is properly prepared. Then seek the striped bass that are starting to bite.

Feb. 11: The cold front due to cross the Mississippi today is expected to be relatively weak, a foretaste of early spring just a week away.

Feb. 12: The pace of spring quickens, as the sun reaches 40 percent of the way to equinox today. Continue planting and frost seeding throughout the period.

Frost seeding is the easiest way to get an early start on filling in bare spaces in your lawn. Just sprinkle seed on the cold ground; the freezing and thawing to come will work the seeds into the ground, and they should sprout in April or May.

Feb. 13: Take cuttings to propagate shrubs, trees and houseplants. In the South, pasture season can be under way by now, and fields are starting to turn a deeper green well into the Border States. Along the Ohio River, strawberries sometimes have new foliage.
Feb. 14: You can set out most tender vegetables and flowers May 1, 12 weeks from today. Prepare equipment to spray fruit trees when high temperatures climb into the 40s next week. Ideally, all winter pruning should be complete as the knuckles of this year’s rhubarb crop push out of the ground.

Today is Chinese New Year, and Feb. 16 is Mardi Gras; if you missed selling your lambs or kids to those markets this season, plan to take advantage next year.

Living with the seasons

Take cuttings to propagate shrubs, trees and house plants. Under this week’s dark moon, complete winter pruning to retard growth. Spread manure on the garden while the ground is hard. Also broadcast red clover in the fields, and grass seed where needed on the lawn.

Plan to spray fruit trees between now and the middle of March. Don’t wait too long, or an unseasonable warm spell might start the bloom and insect cycles early.

Even if you live in the city, plan to tap a maple tree for sap. You need to drill a hole in the trunk, provide some kind of tube for a drain, and an empty jug.

By Feb. 16, the S.A.D. Index falls below 60 for the first time this year. You may be feeling better!

Almanac classics
I Do Not Believe in Ghosts
(Name withheld upon request)
To begin with, I do not believe in mediums, the supernatural, ghosts, witchcraft and the like. Yet there is something that is beyond my or my daughter’s understanding.

My mother-in-law, Theresa, and my daughter were very close. Not long after my mother-in-law’s death, my daughter received an unsolicited prayer book from the shrine of St. Theresa, the only one she ever got.

The book said to pray to the Saint, and if your prayer will be answered, the sign will be a rose. This was all unknown to me when my daughter came to visit – and I presented her with a perfect dried rose.

This is just the beginning. A week or so later, I was in the cellar cleaning when I heard my mother-in-law, as plain as day, tell me: “Jane needs your help; she is in big financial trouble. Just as I helped you, you help her.”

I called Jane and told her, “You need money bad, don’t you? I’ll help you out.”

She started crying and said, “How could you possibly know?
“Mom, you’re going to think that I’m crazy if I tell you something. I was sitting on the porch, and I heard Grandma, just as plain as if she was sitting next to me. She said: ‘Don’t worry. I know that you are in need of help, and I’ll help you.’”

It was then that I told her of my experience hearing my mother-in-law, and she told me about the rose. We mentioned this to a few people, and all ridiculed us, the same as we would have done if we had not experienced it.

Explanation? There is none. Did it happen to two people 100 miles apart? It sure did!

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.