August 14-20, 2017

Above the arching jimson-weeds flare twos And twos of sallow-yellow butterfl ies, Like blooms of lorn primroses blowing loose, When autumn winds arise.

 

-James Whitcomb Riley Almanac horoscope

Moon time: The Blackberry Moon, entering its fi nal quarter on August 14 at 8:15 p.m., continues to wane, reaching perigee, its position closest to Earth, on August 18 and becoming the new Cricket and Katydid Moon at 1:30 p.m. on August 21. Rising after midnight and setting in the evening, this moon is overhead in the late morning.

Sun time: A total eclipse of the Sun will occur on August 21, visible in its entirety in an area from Oregon through the center of the United States and the Southeast.

The eclipse will be about 90 percent visible in the lower Midwest, beginning about 1 p.m. and ending a little before 4 p.m.

The greatest occultation will take place at about 2:30 p.m. The next solar eclipse of this magnitude will not occur again until 2024.

August 22 is Cross-Quarter Day and marks the halfway point between summer solstice and autumn equinox. The sun enters Virgo on the same day. Planet time: Saturn lies below Hercules at sundown and disappears into the west after midnight.

Star time: Now Libra has moved deep into the west by 11 p.m., with Scorpio following close behind along the horizon. The Northern Cross (or Cygnus the Swan) has moved directly overhead, and will tell the time of year throughout the autumn until Orion appears in the east once again.

Shooting star time: The next signifi cant meteor shower, the Draconids, occurs in the fi rst week of October.

Weather time

 

The weather of the second week of this month is often uneventful until the cool front of August 17. Even this front, however, is a mild high-pressure system, often bringing heat rather than cold to most of the nation. At higher elevations in the Northwest, on the other hand, this front can bring frost and light snow.

New moon on August 21 is likely to contribute to storms with this front and the next. The solar eclipse during the afternoon may intensify lunar

influence.

Now the likelihood of severe heat in the nation’s midsection is only half of what it was at the beginning of August, and the August 24 high-pressure system brings chances for light frost along the Canadian border. Across the central states and the South, however, this front brings little change.

Zeitgebers: The third week of August is the week in which the Judas trees often show patches of bright orange in the otherwise solid green of maples. It is the week that elms, box elders and catalpas start to wear thin, and showers of black walnut leaves foretell autumn.

Buckeye leaves are browning under the high canopy. Scarlet has appeared in the sumac, Virginia creeper and poison ivy. Redbuds and cottonwoods can be yellowing from the heat. It is high bloom for velvetleaf, jimsonweed, prickly mallow, wild lettuce, ironweed and wingstem, but teasel and tall bellfl ower time is over. Elderberries are ready for wine.

Field and garden time

Most summer tomato plants, set in the ground around Memorial Day, are producing fruit. Before frost, pick and preserve some marjoram, sage, clover and fennel to feed to your ewes and does after birthing. Some owners say these herbs stimulate increased milk production.

Also, collect and freeze colostrum for your winter lambs. Plant or divide lilac bushes. Prune your privet hedges.

Marketing time: Plan breeding times for ewes and does in order to serve next year’s markets (Mardi Gras on Feb. 18, Chinese New Year on Feb. 16 and Dominican Republic Independence Day on Feb. 27).

Mind and body time: As the summer progresses, look for the fi rst signs of a pre-autumn surge in energy and euphoria.

This surge may reflect an ancient biological trigger that helps people prepare for winter; take advantage of it to finish your summer projects.

Creature time: Expect a lull in the fish activity after the August 17 front goes east, but then an increase as the August 24 high-pressure system approaches.

Since the moon will be overhead in the middle of the day, lunchtime should favor locating fish and other creatures.

In August, the last spicebush swallowtails visit the garden. Tiger swallowtails and giant swallowtails often remain into September. Murmurations of starlings become more common, and long flocks of blackbirds follow the harvest.

Almanac classics

An Embarrassing Pickin’

By Edna Mae Hale

Rensselaer, Ind.

Back in 1949, my dad married a woman named Carol. He met her and her sister Claire when they came to our house, bringing eggs for sale. Carol and my dad got married that fall, 1949.

I was just 6 years old then. We moved to the next hill over from where we used to live. They called it Pine Ridge or Dry Ridge; I like the name Pine Ridge better.

When I was 11 or 12 years old, a lot of us would get together and go berry pickin’. So one day, everybody wanted to go pick berries.

I wore dresses and skirts back then. I didn’t have pants. So one of Carol’s brothers let me use one of his old pants. So I thought I had it made, so we got in a berry patch. And we were laughing and having fun, and picking berries.

But all of a sudden, the back of my pants ripped out. We were far away from the house, and we decided to spend the night with some people who owned a store. I was too embarrassed to tell the woman there about my pants was tore. I tried to walk so she wouldn’t see them, because I was so embarrassed.

The next morning at breakfast, it was even worse because there was even more people there. After breakfast, I was so glad to go home. Some of Carol’s brothers got their kicks out of my embarrassment. They sure thought it was funny.