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Early November usually much more rainy than late October
 

Nov. 3-9, 2014
There is a seasonal exhaustion in the air. The ground is cool and subdued as the hills turn dusky and purple by late afternoon. I pass cleared fields full of stubble, the lank, dark stalks of corn. Milkweeds, where monarchs deposited their eggs, have opened their pods, and the white silk lies over browning grass like wisps of cotton, or is concentrated in spots like the downy feathers of a chicken caught by a fox.
-John Hay
Lunar phase and lore
The Frog and Toad Migration Moon waxes throughout the week reaching perigee, its position closest to Earth, on Nov. 3 and then becoming full on Nov. 6 at 5:23 p.m.
Rising in the afternoon and setting in the morning, this moon is overhead in the middle of the night, encouraging raccoons and opossums to wander through the dark woods – especially as the first cold front of the month approaches.
Lunar position in Taurus on Nov. 4-7 will favor late plantings of spring bulbs, as well as the seeding of bedding plants such as coleus and impatiens.
Weather trends
Highs just in the 30s or 40s were relatively rare during the final week of October, but by the end of November’s first week they occur 35 percent of the time, and chances rise to over 40 percent by Nov. 10.
The coolest days in this period are typically Nov. 6-7, both of which have only a 15 percent chance for warmth in the 60s.
In addition to its chilly winds, Nov. 6 ushers in the snow season for this part of the country, flurries or accumulation emerging into the realm of possibility – at least a 10 percent possibility per day between now and spring.
Chances for a thunderstorm virtually disappear until February, but all-day rains increase. The first 10 days of November are typically twice as rainy as the final 10 of October.
With the increase in rain comes an increase in cloud cover. Chances for a completely overcast day surge from Halloween’s 25 percent all the way to 60 percent after Nov. 4.
The natural calendar

Nov. 3: If major storms occur this month, weather patterns suggest they will happen in the following periods: Nov. 2-5, 14-16 and 22-27. Perigee increases the likelihood for bad weather today and tomorrow. New moon on Nov. 16 increases the chances for trouble during the mid-month storm time.
Nov. 4: Late fall, a three- to four-week transition period of chilly temperatures, gray skies and killing frosts, usually arrives by today, and Nov. 5 is the pivotal day for autumn cloud cover to intensify.
Nov. 5: Mock orange and forsythia are thinning; their leaf fall measures the progress of the last phase of autumn. Across the North, most tree lines show no color. Only an occasional Osage orange gives life to the horizon.
In town, willows are only half turned. Decorative pear foliage is a deep red, prolonging middle fall in the cities.
Nov. 6: Jupiter in Leo is the morning star this month, rising after midnight and moving overhead by sunup. Mars is the red evening star, riding low in the southeast in Sagittarius. Venus and Saturn are both in Libra throughout the day, lost in the sun.
Nov. 7: The workday begins to shrink more quickly, losing about 2 minutes every 24 hours. November takes almost an hour from the day’s length along the 40th Parallel.
Nov. 8: From today through Nov. 20 is the normal rutting period for whitetail deer in the central part of the country. Male deer lose their antler velvet, rub and scrape on branches and chase does.
Rutting is also thought to contribute to the great increase in the number of accidents involving cars and deer. Half of those incidents happen between 6 p.m. and midnight – and almost all of them occur when weather conditions are mild and clear.
Nov. 9: Orion looms in the east late in the evenings of November; by midnight, the Pleiades are almost overhead and Cancer is rising with Mars. Autumn’s Pegasus is in the western half of the heavens, and Perseus pursues Cassiopeia around Polaris.
Pisces lies due south, promising the thaws of late February. Sirius is emerging from the eastern horizon, prophet of the Dog Days of July.
In field and garden

Nov. 3: Consider applying nitrogen, phosphate and potash to the fields after harvest in order to decrease the springtime workload.
Nov. 4: Finish the fences and outbuilding repairs before the weather turns mean in November. Eliminate the drafts from the livestock barn, but not the ventilation.
Nov. 5: Don’t forget ventilation in the beehives. Clustering bees produce water vapor in the hive, and if it is not removed, it condenses on the inside of the hive top and comes back down on the bees in the form of cold rain, which can chill and even kill the bees.
Nov. 6: Purchase amaryllis and paperwhite bulbs before they disappear from the stores. Start some of them now so you will have blossoms through the holiday season.
Nov. 7: This is Ecuadorian Independence Day: Consider selling lambs and kids to this market.
Nov. 8: Fertilize trees and shrubs; leaf drop should be complete on most plantings except forsythia and Osage orange. Cut wood. Remove tops from everbearing raspberries.
Nov. 9: Two-thirds of the corn and 80 percent of the soybeans and sugar beets have been harvested.
Almanac literature
Great American Story Contest entry
Picnic
By Fred Gullion
Vevay, Ind.
In the spring of 1959 while I was home on leave from the U.S. Navy, my wife of a few short months – who was and continues to be a very outdoors-loving person, and sometimes rather strange – decided we should go on a picnic to one of her favorite places, Twin Caves.
Water ran through one of the caves in a small stream out and over the edge and fell perhaps 15 feet to the creek. A narrow path led from the cave along the creek bank at a slight angle. Since the lower creek bank is where she wanted to go for our picnic, we would have to wind our way down.
I was carrying the basket, following my wife, who always carried a .22 rifle and camera wherever she went. Sounds sort of strange, but believe me it was perfectly normal for her.
My wife had packed a beautiful lunch, which included deviled eggs and more than two people could possibly eat at one time.
Just as I started across the small stream in the cave, my foot slipped on the wet rocks. At first I tried to catch my balance, but it was impossible with the huge basket, and my feet going higher than my head, so over the cliff I went.
I ended up on my backside sitting in the creek wet and muddy, with the picnic basket upended by my side. The deviled eggs were last seen floating on toward the Ohio River.
My wife was almost crying from laughing. Her only concern was her beautiful deviled eggs were ruined and her basket was wet; never mind that this sailor was adrift on a sea without a ship.

10/30/2014