Wind’s rune in the aspens,

pale flame of dawn,

the April promise of new moon and evening star,

the robins’ matins and far,

the solitary whippoorwills, song sparrows’ threnody,

the pewee’s pensive cry.... – August Derleth

The Moon

The Daffodil Moon became full at 12:37 a.m. on April 6. It then wanes into its last quarter at 5:12 a.m. on the 13th. Rising in the middle of the night and setting in the morning, this moon passes overhead near dawn, making early daylight the most favorable time to feed fish.

The Sun: On April 10, the sun reaches a declination of 7 degrees 53 minutes, about 65 percent of its way to summer solstice.

The Planets: Mars in Gemini, is overhead in the middle of the night. Saturn, rising well before dawn in Aquarius, is the only Morning Star.

The Stars: The dark early mornings in April bring the Summer Triangle deep into the center of the sky, and the Milky Way accompanies Cygnus, Lyra and Aquila, stretching from Sagittarius due south to Capella in the north. The Great Square is coming up over the eastern tree line. Boxy Libra is setting in the southwest, and Arcturus, the corn-planting star, having traveled across the heavens through the night, precedes the Corona Borealis into the west.

Weather Trends

By the time the April 2 front moved to New England, average air temperatures started to rise one degree every three days instead of Early Spring’s one degree every two days. And as the April 6 front approached, the chances for frost briefly diminish, and chances for highs in the 70s or 80s increase dramatically across the country.

The Natural Calendar: 

Crab apple and cherry blossom time begins in the lower Midwest and the East, and it usually lasts into the last week of the month. Buckeye leaves are coming out. Crocus, snowdrop and aconite seasons end except along the Canadian border. The seasons of wood hyacinths, scillas, daffodils, pushkinias, windflowers and glory of the snow take their places. Early tulips are open. May apples are up and spreading their wings. Trees are in full flower throughout the Central Plains, the Northeast, the Northwest and the Rocky Mountains. In the Southeast, all the grasses are coming into bloom.

In the Field and Garden: 

The field and garden day is increasing at the rate of two minutes per 24 hours. As the Moon wanes, dig in new strawberry, raspberry and blackberry plants. Dust roses lightly as new leaves emerge.

Put in early sweet corn, head lettuce and peas. Plant all your remaining root crops. Weeds are taking over the garden; the Moon’s fourth phase favors removing them.

All across the country, farmers seed oats and spring barley. Field corn planting is underway throughout the South and the central states. Cotton planters plant cotton along the Gulf. In the Great Lakes region, commercial cabbage transplanting is underway.

Haying often begins in several states by the end of April; transition animals slowly from last year’s old hay to this year’s fresh hay.

Mind and Body: 

Studies show that by the end of March, many people report a complex of symptoms that creates the broad strokes of spring fever: a higher energy level combined, oddly enough with a lack of ambition, decreased need for sleep, reduced appetite, alleviation of depression, a sense of comfort, amiability, warmth and renewal.

While these reactions were once thought to be purely psychological, evidence is accumulating that they are the effects of adjustments in the body’s internal chemistry to environmental cues.

It is hypothesized that the increasing amount and intensity of sunlight after spring equinox is processed by the brain through the eyes, transmitted to the pineal gland in the cerebrum, which reduces its secretion of melatonin, a hormone that influences mood and energy levels.

The price one pays for ignoring the messages of the pineal gland may, in fact, lead to springtime depression. Researcher Dr. Norman Rosenthal suggests, reasonably enough, that if you see other people outside enjoying the spring, you may experience a heightened sense of loneliness and of being left out.

The physiological nature of spring fever can, in effect, be a two-edged sword. A study by Matthew Keller has found that people who spent more than 30 minutes outside in the springtime experienced an elevated mood, while those who spent fewer than 30 minutes outside actually had a negative reaction to spring. Keller asserts that most people spend up to 95 percent of their time indoors, so their chances of their really feeling good about spring or experiencing the positive effects of spring fever are greatly reduced.

Countdown to Summer

• One week until lilacs bloom in your dooryards

• Two weeks until all the honeysuckles flower

• Three weeks to morel season

• Four weeks to the first rhubarb pie

• Five weeks to the great warbler migration through the Lower Midwest

• Six weeks to the first strawberry pie 

• Seven weeks until the first orange daylilies blossom

• Eight weeks until roses flower

• Nine weeks until the first mulberries are sweet for picking and cottonwood cotton drifts in the wind.

• 10 weeks until wild black raspberries sweeten

Almanack Classics

Wimpy, the Runt

By Eugenia Herrmann, Redkey, Ind.

My father was a butcher at an Ohio packing plant during World War II. Frequently, he would bring a “runt” pig home for my mother to feed out, either for our own consumption or for resale.

One runt that arrived was a pint-sized piglet named Wimpy. He was really small and young. At the same time, our Springer Spaniel dog had puppies, and before anyone realized it, she had adopted the pig to nurse alongside of her puppies.

Wimpy was totally happy with his adoption and grew quickly. He became very attached to the dog, following her everywhere, including going on hunting jaunts with her. More than once, the neighbors called my mother to tell her that Wimpy was caught in a fence somewhere. Mom would have to go rescue him and bring him home.

Weaning Wimpy became a major problem, however. He was the size of the dog and still wanted to nurse. Mom would keep the dog in the house and try to keep Wimpy in the barn, but to no avail. The climax occurred when Wimpy tore down the screen door trying to find his “mommy.”

Regretfully, Wimpy was one young piggy who had to go to market early.

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Poor Will’s Almanack for 2023 is still available from Amazon. You can also purchase the daily journal of April events in the Lower Midwest, A Daybook for April in Yellow Springs, Ohio, from Amazon.

Copyright 2023 – W. L. Felker