| By BILL FELKER
Poor Will's Almanack July 13 -19, 2015 In natural history, every event is a sign, and every sign is what it signifies. Every observation tells a precise time of the earth’s turn. -Poor Will Lunar phase and lore The Cicada and Cricket Moon, new at 8:24 p.m. on July 15, waxes throughout the week, reaching apogee – its position farthest from Earth – on July 21 and then entering its second quarter at 11:04 p.m. July 23. Rising in the middle of the day and setting in the night, this moon passes overhead in the afternoon, making after lunchtime the most promising for angling and breaking your diet. Planting is recommended under Scorpio, July 23-26. All creatures (including fish) tend to be more active as the cool front of July 21 approaches (but not after it passes through). Weather trends Mid-July weather is relatively stable in most years (hot and dry with an occasional thunderstorm), but the likelihood for rain increases as the July 21 front moves across the Mississippi. Thanks to this weather system, however, highs in the mild 70s are recorded about a quarter of all the years. The nights around July 23 bring relatively cool sleeping conditions more often than at any time in July. The natural calendar July 13: By the third week of July – just a few days away – summer reaches as far north as it can go, then starts to slip away back to the Caribbean. The years will vary, but the odds against summer are starting to build. July 14: The day’s length will soon become 150 seconds shorter every 24 hours. July 15: Blackberries are full-size this week, but still green. June’s yellow sweet clover cedes to white sweet clover. In field and garden July 13: When elderberries are dark purple, then you know the wheat harvest is almost over, that the oats crop is one-third ripe. July 14: Gardens show their Asiatic lilies, tea roses, bergamot, coneflowers of all kinds, midseason hosta, gay feather, yarrow and helianthus. July 15: Pokeweed gets green berries as Japanese beetles reach major levels in the soybeans. Almanac literature Great American Story Contest entry What Time Is It, Mr. Fox? Anne Auker Peebles, Ohio "Squawk – Squawk!" The flock of chickens that had been scratching around calmly at the edge of the woods now fluttered and cackled frantically. And we saw a small form leaping among them as feathers flew. Mom ran down the slope, and the fox dropped the hen and fled, grabbing another one on the way. Mom chased it so it had to let go of that hen, too, as the weight was too much to carry fast. Neither of the hens was very hurt, only missing a bunch of feathers. This was early in the evening, and the next day the fox was back earlier in the day and grabbed a hen with chicks. Again, we chased him off, and a pile of white feathers settled gently on the grass. Daddy was at home the next day when the fox came, and he went after it with the .22, but it ran and Daddy couldn’t get a shot. The hen that had been carried away came hurrying back to her frightened chicks, out from under the grass and brush. We finally took care of the fox, but remembering this all reminded me of a game we used to play at school. A row of children (chickens) face "Mr. Fox." One "hen" calls, "What time is it, Mr. Fox?" If the answer is 3 o’clock, everyone advances three steps. If the answer is 10 o’clock, everyone takes 10 steps, and so on until Mr. Fox yells "Midnight!" Then the chickens run shrieking back to base with the Fox seeing whom he can tag. Then it starts over, and the chickens who were caught turn into foxes and help in the chase. Winners of the Great American Almanac Story Contest will not be announced until all selected entries appear in this column. |
