June 15-21, 2015 A change in the weather is sufficient to re-create the world and ourselves. -Marcel Proust, Remembrance of Things Past Lunar phase and lore
The Firefly Moon, new on June 16 at 9:05 a.m., waxes throughout the remainder of the month, passing gentle apogee (its position farthest from Earth) and reaching its second quarter at 6:03 a.m. on June 24. Coming up out of the east in the morning and setting in the evening, this moon passes overhead in the afternoon. Consequently, the time between lunch and supper is the best lunar time for fishing, particularly as the cool fronts of June 23 and 29 approach. Plant and transplant under Cancer on June 16-19 (or whenever you have time). Weather trends
Chances for warm temperatures above 80 degrees remain relatively steady at 80 percent throughout the period. Sun is more common than clouds, and there is only a 20 percent chance for a completely overcast day during this week of June. Rain is most common on June 20 and 24, but two of the driest days of the entire year are June 25-26. The natural calendar
June 15: Between today and June 19, average temperatures climb their final degrees, reaching their summer peak near solstice. June 16: Today’s new moon is expected to strengthen the mid-June cool front. June 17: Delphinus follows Cygnus in the east after 10 p.m., Altair, the bright star of Aquila shining below them. Just ahead of Cygnus, Vega leads the Milky Way west. Overhead, Arcturus moves into the western half of the sky, the Corona Borealis coming in to take its place. Libra lies due south, July’s Scorpius right behind it. June 18: Field crickets sing as snapping turtles lay their eggs. June 19: The sun holds steady at its solstice declination of 23 degrees, 26 minutes (and the day’s length remains virtually unchanged) between June 19-23. June 20: Rugosa roses are in full flower, accompanied by black-eyed Susans, wild petunias and hobblebush. June 21: The exact midpoint of the solar year (summer solstice), the time on which the sun reaches as high in the sky as it will ever go, occurs today at 11:38 p.m. In field and garden
June 15: The darkening moon is right for all kinds of animal care (especially worming and spraying for external parasites), for weeding and mulching as well as insect hunting. June 16: Dark moon time is also favorable for pruning shrubs and trees that flowered earlier in the year. June 17: Ramadan begins at sunset on June 17 this year. Now is the time to advertise your farm to the Halal market in preparation for the close of Ramadan on July 17. June 18: Watch for mold in the hay stall in the feed storage area when humidity levels rise dramatically toward the end of the month. Indoors, hidden mold may increase the possibility of allergies and summer colds. June 19: Parasites are often fewer in livestock when animals have more land on which to graze and browse. June 20: Keep deer repellant on hand to head off the disappearance of your lily buds. June 21: Today is Father’s Day. Heat up the grill and fix Dad a lamb or kid barbeque. Get your early sweet corn and tomatoes to the roadside stand. Almanac literature Great American Story Contest entry Flying at Five Getting By Pete Jones Lynn, Ind. My dad had a friend with a private pilot’s license, and we would fly in an old Taylorcraft airplane. The Taylorcraft was a plane that had a wheel instead of a stick to steer. It is hard to believe, but those planes only cost about $600. I was five years old and small enough to fit right in the seat of the Taylorcraft (between the pilot and my dad). We would take off and fly over the town’s water tower. The town, Lynn, was in the Guinness Book of Records because that water tower was the site of the parachute jump from a stationary position. The jumper jumped and survived from 150 feet, making that the lowest stationary jump ever made to that time. One afternoon I was in a plane piloted by my dad and Curley Kennedy. We flew over the smokestack of the glass factory in Winchester. The plane hit the hot air and gave us a thrill of a lifetime! The son of the owner was nine years old when he earned his private pilot’s license. No, we were not allowed to fly together. Winners of the Great American Almanac Story Contest will not be announced until all selected entries appear in this column. Last week’s Scrambler
In order to estimate your Scrambler IQ, award yourself 15 points for each word unscrambled, adding a 50-point bonus for getting all of them correct. If you find a typo, add another 15 points to your IQ. YFICAP – PACIFY PTRFYIE – PETRIFY YFIOMLL – MOLLIFY DIFYOM – MODIFY LLLUAYB – LULLABY IFYNGAM – MAGNIFY FFRTYOI – FORTIFY GLRFOIY – GLORIFY YBANDTS – STANDBY IAAKLL – ALKALI This week’s Scrambler
YLIMP UYJL YEFD ENDY IGPEAM PYLPA YRWA LALY EEILB LYPMOC
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