June 7-13, 2010
And what is so rare as a day in June?
Then, if ever, come perfect days;
Then Heaven tries the earth if it be in tune,
And over it softly her warm ear lays:
Whether we look, or whether we listen,
We hear life murmur, or see it glisten.
-James Russell Lowell
Lunar phase and lore The Duckling and Gosling Moon wanes through its fourth quarter, becoming the sweet Cherry Pie Moon at 6:15 a.m. June 12.
The dark moon will be overhead in the middle of the day this week, making lunchtime the best lunar time to fish. The falling barometer a day or so before the cool fronts arriving around June 10 and 15 will make for improved angling and more difficult midday dieting.
New moon on June 12 should create favorable lunar conditions for seeding the last pasture and the final field crops of the summer. Don’t wait any longer for the soybeans, and put in additional plantings of greens, corn and beans, too.
But, remember that the new moon is almost as powerful as the full moon for causing livestock and family members to be rambunctious.
When the sky is completely dark an hour or so after sundown, then the sky promises early summer: Arcturus overhead, Regulus (with Mars) in the far west), Libra due south and Cygnus in the far west. The Lyrid meteors will be visible after midnight near the center of the sky June 14-16. They usually fall at the rate of about one every six minutes.
Weather patterns Between June 8-11, the average temperature rise slows to 1 degree in four days instead of late spring’s 1 degree in three. Then, between June 15-19, it climbs just 1 degree in five days, reaching its summer zenith.
June 7: Keep track of your lambs’ and kids’ rates of weight gain. The more closely you check the growth of your animals, the more factors you will be able to take into consideration as you work to improve the herd or flock.
June 8: Channel catfish begin their summer feeding on mussels. The darkening of the golden winter wheat measures the steady advance of early summer north.
June 9: Pie cherries ripen between now and the first days of July. During that time, the day’s length in this area varies by no more than five minutes.
June 10: Chiggers bite today; their season lasts until the end of late summer. High temperatures above 100 degrees become possible throughout the country.
June 11: Weather history suggests that the driest days of the month typically occur between June 10-27. These are the most favorable days for haying, laying cement, grooming your animals and making fence and outbuilding repairs.
June 12: Almost every farmer has his or her soybeans planted by today. The wheat is headed on 90 percent of the fields. Grapes are in full bloom along Lake Erie, and crown vetch and smartweed blossom along the highways. Cottonwood cotton drifts in the wind.
June 13: Fireflies glow in the lawn as far north as Chicago. Walleye fishing on Lake Erie is at its best. Pick black raspberries when you see yucca flowers.
Countdown to middle summer Watch these wildflowers come into bloom along the roadsides in order to help you keep track of the approach of middle summer:
•June 1: Red Canadian thistle (with small flowers) and the large-flowered nodding thistle
•June 7: Pale blue chicory, orange day lily
•June 9: Big, lanky pokeweed
•June 10: White Queen Anne’s lace
•June 13: Tall great mullein with its yellow flowers and big soft leaves
•June 14: Common milkweed
•June 16: White sweet clover flowers in the waysides
•June 17: Bright orange Trumpet Creeper vine
•June 19: Black-Eyed Susan with its yellow petals and dark center
•June 26: Full-size cattails
Living with the seasons While many people associate seasonal affective disorder (S.A.D.) with the winter’s gray skies and cold weather, summer S.A.D. affects approximately 10 percent of the North American population.
One of the most significant causes of this condition is the end of the work or school routine that has characterized the fall, winter and spring. A vacation can be especially difficult, since it disrupts a person’s daily schedule as well as removing the vacationer from his or her familiar habitat.
Almanac literature
The Mysterious Guest
By Lois Newman
Seaman, Ohio
Many years ago, farms were smaller, neighbors were closer and we shared whatever we had.
When our little rural church hired a new minister to serve our congregation, my husband volunteered to use his farm truck to move the family into a house nearby. He and another man set out early one morning to drive to the far side of the state to get the family’s possessions.
In the evening they were back and more people from the church met them to help unload the truck and set up the furniture. Then they all came to our house for supper.
As the group came though our door, a frisky little terrier dog came in with them. He sniffed and wiggled through the house while everybody was telling him how cute he was. The preacher asked, “What’s the dog’s name?”
I said, “I don’t know. He’s not our dog. I thought he was yours.”
“No,” the preacher said. “I don’t have a dog.”
We all laughed and scooted the dog back out the door to continue his journey to wherever he had started in the first place. |
