Oct. 29-Nov. 4, 2018

But let the months go round, a few short months,

And all shall be restored. These naked shoots

Barren as lances, among which the wind

Makes wintry music, sighing as it goes,

Shall put their graceful foliage on again,

And more aspiring and with ampler spread

Shall boast new charms, and more than they have lost.

-William Cowper

The Shattering Ginkgo Moon, reaching its second quarter and perigee (its position closest to Earth) on Halloween, wanes throughout the week, threatening frost that shatters the gold of the ginkgo leaves, and becomes the new Starling Murmuration Moon at 11:02 a.m. on Nov. 7.

Rising after midnight and setting in the afternoon, this moon passes overhead in the morning.

Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 a.m. on Nov. 4. Set clocks back one hour at 2 a.m.

Now in Aquarius, Mars is visible in the southwestern sky after sundown. Venus reappears early this month in the east as the Morning Star. Late autumn brings back Orion as an easy marker of sky time. By 11 p.m., it has emerged from the east, following a cluster of seven stars, the Pleiades and the red eye of Taurus, Aldebaran.

A few hours before dawn, all those stars have moved to fill up the southern sky. And the Taurid shower brings only a handful of meteors per hour on Nov. 4-5; the crescent moon should not interfere with meteor-watching.

Weather trends

Weather history suggests the cold waves of late fall usually cross the Mississippi River on or about Nov. 2, 6, 11, 16, 20, 24 and 28. Snow or rain often occurs prior to the passage of each major front. If strong storms occur this month, weather patterns suggest they will happen during the following periods: Nov. 2-5, 14-16 and 22-27.

It is probable that the new moon on Nov. 7, full moon on Nov. 23 and lunar perigee on Nov. 26 will bring stronger-than-average storms to the United States, complicating Thanksgiving travel.

The natural calendar: Even before all the leaves come down, “second spring” is underway, re-greening pastures, bottomlands and fencerows. Wood mint grows new stalks. Watercress revives. Waterleaf reappears.

April’s sweet Cicely, May’s sweet rockets, ragwort, dock and poison hemlock, June’s cinquefoil and hollyhocks, July’s avens and caraway and September’s zigzag goldenrod and small-flowered asters send up fresh leaves. The grass continues to grow, glowing in the low sun. Newly planted winter wheat creates patches of emerald green in the countryside.

Countdown to early winter: By the time you notice all of the following zeitgebers (a German word for time keeper or marker), early winter could well be here:

•Budding Christmas Cacti

•The opening of climbing bittersweet

•Juncos at the bird feeder

•The fall of the last maple and the burning bush leaves

•A killing frost on your tomatoes

•Poinsettias in the supermarket

•Sparrow hawks on the high wires, scouting the fields for prey

Seasonal affective disorders may be increasing in many people due to the change in sunset time that accompanies the end of Daylight Saving Time. Even though you are getting up when it is lighter outside, the sudden end to the day near suppertime is often upsetting. Cloud cover reaches winter levels during the first half of November, compounding the effects of the shortening day and the change in time.

Field and garden

Mulch all perennials and new transplants after watering. Get out your rose collars and fill them with dirt. Mulch root crops to keep them from turning to mush when the ground around them freezes solid. Heaping leaves around kale and collards can often keep these hardy vegetables alive through numerous heavy frosts – sometimes even through the whole winter.

Begin major watering of shrubs and trees through mid-November in order to provide plantings full moisture for the winter months.

Marketing notes: Hanukkah takes place between Dec. 2-10 this year. Traditional lamb dishes for this feast are “finger foods” such as ribs and kibbeh (torpedo-shaped dumplings made with spiced ground lamb and bulgur wheat). This festival is eight days long and offers many possibilities for marketing.

Fish, livestock and birds: The moon will be above the region in the morning this week, favoring fishing and scouting for game at that time, especially as the high-pressure systems of Nov. 6 and 11 approach. The high canopy thins, and squirrels become easier to find.

As pasture growth slows in cooler weather, consider feeding hay to your livestock. Harvest honey from your hives (leaving plenty for the bees). Migrating flocks of birds, sometimes large enough to stretch across the sky, remind the commuter and trucker that ice and snow lie ahead. The urgent call of the geese, common at this time of year, evokes an autumnal restlessness.

As the days shorten, the breeding cycle of sheep and goats dictates a new routine on many Miami Township farms. As the leaves turn, rutting begins for local deer. And even human conceptions are thought to increase as the weather cools.

Almanac literature

Brownie, the Lap Lamb

By John Hamstreet

Grand Ronde, Ore.

We had a lamb named Brownie that her mother refused, so Brownie ended up in the house. I was recovering from surgery and not allowed to go to the barn. Since I was suffering from lamb withdrawal, I would hold her in my lap while I watched TV. She would lie there quietly for hours, practically from feeding to feeding, if I continued to sit that long.

Well, it turned out that she was one of the lambs that we took to the fair, and at the fair the people love to pet our animals and the animals love the attention. One day I got Brownie out of the pen to just have out for people to pet.

As I sat there holding her on a lead with people fussing over her, I could see her mind starting to work. This was all starting to seem very familiar to her. I thought to myself: What would happen if I picked her up? She weighed about 70 pounds by this time.

So, I reached over and picked her up and put her in my lap. Immediately she settled right down and lay there without moving for an hour, while people came by and petted her, fed her pretzels and kids had their pictures taken.

After an hour my lap gave out and I put her back in the pen. The next day I repeated the process and the same thing happened, only this time it was for more than an hour. I think I can say we were the highlight of the sheep barn.

Next year, she will go back to the fair as a yearling, and I am wondering if she will still remember – and will my lap be strong enough to hold her?