By WILLIAM FELKER
Poor Will's Almanack Nov. 2-8, 2015 The trails I made led outward into the hills and swamps, but they led inward also. And from the study of things underfoot, and from reading and thinking, came a kind of exploration of myself and the land. In time the two became one in my mind. -John Haines Lunar phase and lore The Deer Mating Moon, entering its final quarter at 7:24 a.m. on Nov. 3, wanes into apogee, its position farthest from Earth on Nov. 7. It then becomes the Second Spring Moon on Nov. 11, at 12:47 p.m. Rising at night and setting in the afternoon, this moon moves overhead before lunch, making mornings the most favorable for fishing and scouting for game (especially now that most of the leaves are down). Conditions improve even more when the barometer is low before the Nov. 6 cold front. Plant your spring bulbs in the garden, and start your paperwhites and amaryllis bulbs indoors with the dark moon in Scorpio on Nov. 9-12. Weather trends November’s average temperatures fall 1 degree every 50 hours, finding the middle 30s by the end of the month. Normal highs slip down to the middle 40s and lows dip below 30 by Dec. 1. With averages plummeting more than a dozen degrees, around 15 mornings below freezing occur in the next 30 days. There is an average of only 1-2 days in the 70s, just six in the 60s and only eight in the 50s. That makes just half the month with moderate afternoons, and many of those fall within a week of Halloween. Beginning at this time of month, the percentage of daily sunlight drops quickly and the wind blows a little harder, rising to its winter levels. The natural calendar Nov. 2: Yesterday’s end of Daylight Saving Time could cause animals and family to be out of sorts because of the shift in feeding and eating schedule. Seasonal affective disorders may also be increasing in many people due to the change in sunset time that accompanies the time change. Nov. 3: The moon enters its final quarter today – its weakest position during the first half of November – favoring work with livestock, pets, friends and family. The weak moon is expected to keep the first days of November relatively mild, in spite of the arrival of a cold wave around Nov. 2. Nov. 4: Throughout the fields and woods, the last autumn violets sometimes still bloom beside a few chicory, Queen Anne’s lace, thyme-leafed speedwell, mallow, the final asters. Nov. 5: Markers for early November include the blooming of early orchids, jade trees and Christmas cacti indoors, the yellowing of ginkgoes and white mulberries, the sudden turning of the late sugar maples, the slow turning of the silver maples, the reddening of the oaks, the shedding of red mulberry leaves. Nov. 6: In the early morning sky, Jupiter shadows the rising moon. The second high-pressure system of November typically brings the end to the canopy of maple leaves across the northern and central states. Ginkgo and white mulberry foliage often comes down when this front is especially fierce. Nov. 7: Now get up early for sure: Venus and Mars and Jupiter are all clustered around the rising moon. Lunar apogee, along with the waning moon, augers well for mild conditions until Nov. 11 front, which typically chills Veterans Day. Nov. 8: When all the mums are past their best, then major bird migrations are almost over for the year. As mock orange and forsythia foliage thins, it measures the advance of winter. |
