Nov. 8-14, 2010

Deep and boundless, the long autumn night,
Fierce and cutting, the chill northern wind.
-Ts’au P’i (3rd century A.D.)

Lunar phase and lore

The Sundog Moon waxes throughout the period, entering its second quarter at 11:39 p.m. Nov. 13. Passing through Capricorn at the beginning of the week, it enters Aquarius on Nov. 11, Pisces on Nov. 14 and Aries on Nov. 16.

Rising in the middle of the day and setting well after dark, this moon is overhead in the afternoon and early evening. The moon’s weak position (between new and full) favors relatively stable conditions for parents, health care workers and public service employees. This is also a good lunar week for surgery and dental work.

Bedding plant seeding continues to be favored by the waxing moon, especially in Pisces. Start your flowers now, keeping the soil moist and warm, and the grow lights close to your flats. Outside, gardeners may still set in spring bulbs and garlic.
Summer’s Hercules is setting in the west by 10 p.m., and the Great Square of autumn is moving in behind it. Cassiopeia lies due south of Polaris, its deepest intrusion overhead, and the Big Dipper hugs the northern horizon.

Aldebaran and Taurus lead Orion higher each night, and that huge star cluster fills the southern sky by 2 a.m., offering a forecast of late January evenings. A few hours before dawn, Orion has moved into the west, Cancer is overhead and Arcturus, the planting star of April, is rising in the east.

The Leonids are the shooting stars of November, falling after midnight on Nov. 17 and 18 in Leo. Look for these meteors in the east when Orion fills the western sky.

Forty days before solstice, winter clouds usually move over the Midwest, dominating the weather until April. The overcast skies are likely to bring rain 11 out of the next 30 days, and snow or sleet is ordinarily recorded on between one and four occasions before Dec. 1.

Daybook
Nov. 8: The strong new moon, combined with the end of Daylight Saving Time (yesterday), could cause animals and family members – and maybe even you – to be out of sorts because of the change in schedule feeding and eating schedule.

Nov. 9: Falling leaves let you know it is time to fertilize the pasture and garden. Manure and compost that is spread now will have a chance to work its way into the ground all winter. Order legume seed for winter pastures.

Nov. 10: Schedule your frost seeding of the lawn for January and February. Deep water all perennials before the ground freezes, especially if your garden suffered from the drought this summer.
Nov. 11: Sun often follows the cold front that arrives near this date, and Nov. 11-13 are often some of the best days in the first half of the month for harvest. A dramatic increase in the number of freezing predawn temperatures starts with the Nov. 11 system, the lows below 32 growing from a frequency average of 40 percent up to 70 percent across the nation’s midsection.

Nov. 12: Seasonal affective disorders may be increasing in many people because of the change in sunset time that accompanies the end of Daylight Saving Time. Even though you are getting up when it is lighter outside, the sudden end to the day near suppertime can be pretty upsetting.

Cloud cover reaches winter levels during the first half of November, compounding the effects of the shortening day and the change in time.

Nov. 13: The Sundog Moon enters its second quarter – its weakest position during the first part of November – favoring work with livestock, pets, friends and family.

Nov. 14: The upcoming Christmas market, while not as lucrative as the Easter market for sheep and goats, still offers opportunities to sell small milk-fed lambs and kids. The Jewish feast of Hanukkah takes place in early December and increases your options.
If you do not already sell to the ethnic market, consider investigating how you can match your breeding schedule to the needs of the diverse population of your region. And if you don’t have lambs and kids, why not consider raising some?

Countdown to early winter

The passage of the seasons is most easily measured by observing events in nature.

Each event of late fall is connected to other events and their power swells, overwhelming the remnants of early and middle fall, breaking the way for December.

Among the steps to early winter, find thimbleweed heads tufted like cotton and the soft heads of this summer’s cattails starting to break apart, asparagus yellowing in the garden, the last leaves of the white mulberry tree coming down, the last leaves of the ginkgoes falling and the last leaves of the silver maples shedding overnight.

Living with the seasons
The effect of the upcoming social season (the approach of Thanksgiving and Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza) is combining with increasing chill in the weather, the growing cloud cover and the final end of the autumn foliage to create a completely different mindset in many people.

No matter whether that mindset is positive or negative, it may be helpful to track its source as closely as possible: When did it begin? What are its roots? Is there a particular event in nature that triggers your reaction?