April  13-19, 2015

Mid April already, and the wild plums

bloom at the roadside, a lacy white

against the exuberant, jubilant green

of new grass and the dusty, fading black

of burned-out ditches. No leaves, not yet,

only the delicate, star-petaled

blossoms, sweet with their timeless perfume.

-Ted Kooser, “Mother”

Lunar phase and lore

The Cabbage Butterfly Moon reaches perigee (its position closest to Earth) on April 16; it then becomes the new Petal-Fall Moon at 1:57 a.m. April 18. Rising in the morning and setting in the evening, this crescent moon moves across the center of the sky near the middle of the day. Lunar position is most favorable for fishing between late morning and early afternoon, particularly as the cool fronts of April 16 and 21 push down the barometer as they approach.

And this week is one of the best lunar times for spring planting of all kinds. Maximize your seeding and setting out when the moon passes through Taurus between April 18-20.

Weather trends

After the high-pressure system that arrives near April 16 passes through, a major increase in the average daily amount of sunlight occurs: A rise from early April’s 50/50 chance for sun or clouds, up to a brighter 70 percent chance for clear to partly cloudy conditions. Chances for highs in the 80s continue to climb across the nation’s center, reaching the same frequency as in mid-October by April 18.

The steady advance of the year’s cold waves slows now, and relatively long periods of stable weather encourage the advent of full spring growth; however, the second major tornado period of April begins this week, lasting in most years until April 27.

The natural calendar

April 13: By this time of the season, honeysuckles and spice bushes have developed enough to turn the undergrowth pale green.

April 14: The blooming of decorative pears, plums, crabapples, peaches and other fruit trees reaches its peak as April reaches its center.

April 15: The height of Great Dandelion Bloom in the alleys and along the freeways lets you know if you had time to take to the woods, you could find hepatica, periwinkle, toad trillium, cowslip, rue anemone and buttercups in flower.

April 16: This is new moon day; time to put in field corn and even soybeans in most of the nation.

April 17: Allergy season is here throughout the nation. During April, trees are in full flower throughout the Central Plains, the Northeast, the Northwest and the Rocky Mountains. In the Southeast, all the grasses are coming into bloom.

April 18: Mars travels to Aries, disappearing into the sunset this evening.

April 19: Between now and the first of May, most dandelions go to seed in the central states.

In field and garden

April 13: Today begins the New Year’s celebration for immigrants from Cambodia, Thailand and Laos. Consider marketing lambs and kids to the celebrants.

April 14: In the vegetable garden, you might find fresh asparagus, new herbs for seasoning and lettuce leaves long enough for salad.

April 15: Destroy tent caterpillars as they hatch in trees on your property.

April 16: Grub worms come to the surface of the lawn.

April 17: Cover tender vegetables and flowers against frost as the moon turns new tomorrow.

April 18: The moon is new today, enticing the black and gray morel mushrooms to emerge in cool, damp nights. That moon will also help the orchardgrass to head up for harvest, and the rhubarb to grow.

April 19: When the tree line starts to turn green, weevils appear in alfalfa and the big field corn planting push begins all across the central states.

Almanac literature

Great American Story Contest entry

Where’s a Flyswatter

When You Need One?

By Margaret L. Simko

Huntingdon, Tenn.

Company from out of state were visiting, and we were going to take them to Cub Lake to swim and picnic. My eldest son was quizzing me on what kind of swimsuit and color I was going to wear. “Not going to be one of those suits with a skirt around it,” he said. “I hate those.”

“Listen,” I said. “Don’t you worry about my suit, and I promise not to embarrass you in any way. You won’t even know I am there.”

So, off we drove and into the water we went. However, I was not in the water 10 minutes when my grandson came up to me and said, “Mema, go under the water.” So, I did. But when I came back up out of the water, my grandson again said, “Mema, go back under.”

Upon my resurfacing, Grandson smacks me quite hard on the forehead. He announced a gigantic horsefly had attached itself to my forehead and I was bleeding profusely due to my medications. And, I was making the water red!

He ordered me out of the lake. The blood was squirting out, covering my face, and I couldn’t see where I was going. Then suddenly four EMTs surrounded me and one of them pressed the palm of his hand so hard on my forehead that I fell to my knees into the sand. At that moment, it felt like an Alleluia moment.

After the situation quieted down, people dispersed and I tried to recuperate on my beach towel. My family – who had hidden behind trees – slowly came around, and my son said, “Yeah, Mom, so much for ‘You won’t even know I’m there.’

“Out of 132 swimmers, the horsefly picks you! I guess he picked the ‘juiciest specimen’ here, and that swimsuit may just have given him an edge.”

Winners of the Great American Almanac Story Contest will not be announced until all selected entries appear in this column.