Jan. 29-Feb. 4, 2018

We are born and placed among wonders and surrounded by them, so that to whatever object the eye first turns, the same is wonderful and full of wonders, if only we will examine it for a while.

-John de Dondis, 14th century

Almanac horoscope

The Frolicking Fox Moon is a Supermoon this week, at perigee on Jan. 30 and full on Jan. 31. Rising in the evening and setting in the middle of the morning, this moon travels above the region in the middle of the night.

A Supermoon is lunar high tide, bringing the maximum influence of the moon to oceans and creatures on Earth. Watch your moods and those of other people and animals at this time. If the moon is going to influence them, this is the week it will happen.

A partial eclipse of the full moon occurs near moonset on the morning of Jan. 31. After all that, the moon wanes through its third quarter and enters its final phase at 10:54 a.m. on Feb. 7.

The sun: By the end of February’s first week, the sun reaches more than 30 percent of the way to spring equinox.

The planets: Find Jupiter and Mars in the southeast before dawn in Libra. Saturn follows both of those planets in Sagittarius. Venus is not visible this winter.

The stars: After dark, the Big Dipper lies in the eastern sky this week. Watch it turn counterclockwise throughout the night, moving overhead by 2 a.m. and into the far west before sunrise.

Weather trends

The strong lunar position at the end of January is likely to delay or negate the Groundhog Day thaw that often characterizes the early days of February. And Feb. 3 is one of the month’s days most likely to bring dangerous storms to the Ohio Valley and tornadoes to the South.

The natural calendar: The seasonal clock has advanced by the span of two moons since the last leaves fell to the ground. The first weeds and wildflowers were already rising slowly through December and January: hemlock, lamium, garlic mustard, creeping Charlie, sweet rockets, sweet Cicely, dock, skunk cabbage, wood mint, watercress, mouse-eared chickweed.

Now they lie in wait for the strongest thaws. The tips of snowdrops and snow crocus have emerged; they are waiting, too.

Farm and garden

Continue frost seeding of pastures and seeding of bedding plants and hardy vegetables. Be ready for possible drought by making sure your soil has sufficient potassium and phosphorus. Prepare flats for seeding bedding plants at new moon in the middle of the month.

The pollen season, which began with the pollination of pine trees, now intensifies across the South with the blooming of mountain cedar, acacia, smooth alder, bald cypress, American elm, red maple, white poplar and black willow. Bluegrass, which stopped flowering in midsummer, revives and starts its seeding cycle. When warm Gulf winds bring thaws across the North, all this pollen comes along, too.

Fish, game, insects, livestock and birds: Cardinals have begun to sing all day. In northern Mexico, monarch butterflies migrate toward the Texas border. They will reach the Gulf coast in small groups during mid- to late March, and they reach the lower Midwest when peonies blossom. Small mammals continue to mate in anticipation of milder weather during spring birthing time.

Deer gather throughout the month to feed in herds. Turkeys are flocking now; they will disband and scatter into smaller family groups by April. Bees come looking for skunk cabbage when temperatures warm to 50 degrees.

Creatures should be most active around midnight with the moon overhead, or at midday with the moon below the region. Do your fishing at those times, especially as the barometer drops in advance of the cold front due in February’s first week. If you have pregnant sheep or goats, the moon’s third quarter (the week after full moon), is the lunar period most likely to bring early birthing.

Marketing notes: Passover occurs on March 30-April 7 this year. The Jewish market typically is best after religious holidays come to a close. Milk-fed lambs and kids below 60 pounds are favored for this market. Lamb stew is a traditional Seder dish at Passover Seder dinners.

Almanac literature

Strutter Gets into Trouble

By Ibbie Ledford

Willard, Ohio

Winter was a relaxing time on the farm in rural West Tennessee. The crops were laid by and most of the work was done until spring, except for feeding the animals and milking the cows. Papa could while away much of his time at Uncle Sam’s store playing dominoes.

The week before Thanksgiving, Mama and her sister, Aunt Ibbie, were busy cleaning house and baking pies and cakes. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. We get to see relatives that we haven’t seen in a long time, the food is great and there are no gifts expected.

One nice sunshiny day our chickens were scratching around pecking at corn that Mama had thrown out or digging up a worm for a treat. Mama and Papa didn’t know they were raising ”organic” or “free-range” chickens, as they are called today.

We had an old rooster that year that we called Strutter. He would strut around the backyard, flapping his wings like the whole yard was his domain and would attack anyone he thought was invading it.

One day I was riding my tricycle in his territory. He began following close behind me and just as I rode past the cistern, he jumped toward me. Someone had forgotten to replace the lid on the cistern, so when I ducked down, Strutter flew over me right into the cistern.

Luckily, it hadn’t rained lately and there was only about a foot of water in it. But Strutter was really flapping and squawking.

I yelled at my older brother, Austin, who was always lying in the hayloft reading a book when there was no work to be done. He came running, lowered the water bucket down and Strutter grabbed on to it. Austin pulled him up, and Strutter went running, still flapping and squawking.

We had a good laugh at him, and Mama said he would be on our Thanksgiving dinner table. We never had turkey for Thanksgiving, since we had all those chickens right in our own backyard.

Poor Will’s Almanack for 2018 is still available. Order yours online from Amazon.com or, for an autographed copy, order from www.poorwillsalmanack.com

You can also purchase Bill Felker’s book of essays, Home is the Prime Meridian, from these sites.

Also, he pays $4 for unusual and true farm, garden, animal and even love stories used in this column. Send yours to: Poor Will’s Almanack, P.O. Box 431, Yellow Springs, OH 45387; or to wlfelker@gmail.com

Listen to Poor Will's “Radio Almanack” on podcast anytime at www.wyso.org