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

As sandhill cranes complete their late autumn migrations to the south, tufted titmice begin their winter mating calls, “teee, teee!” under the new Tufted Titmouse Moon. That moon waxes through its first quarter this week, entering its second quarter at 1:11 p.m., on January 9. Rising in the morning and setting in the evening, this Moon passes overhead during the middle of the day. Animal activity should reflect that lunar position, making lunch time the most promising for fishing and looking for game. The days before the January 10 and 15 cold fronts will be the best lunar times to be out in the woods or on the frigid water.

Weather Trends

A low-pressure system approaches this week, making the period between January 8 and 12 one of the main storm windows of the year. Chances for highs only in the 20s or teens increase to near 50 percent on the 9th through the 12th, and below-zero readings occur often on January 9 and 11. The period of January 8 - 21 normally brings more below-zero temperatures than any other during January. The first week of February is the only other time of the year when chances become this great for sub-zero cold.

Zeitgebers

 (Events in Nature that Tell the Time of Year)

One of the earliest songsters, the male tufted titmice often sings out his sharp mating call as Deep Winter begins.

It doesn’t happen very often, but snowdrops can be out of the ground by this week of the year. There can be fresh poppy leaves in the garden, new pyrethrums, and wrinkled lemon verbena. 

When the first crocus leaves push up in milder years, then the first pussy willow catkin could be open just a crack.

When you hear sparrows chattering near dawn, then foxes and coyotes will be looking for mates. When you see pine trees pollinating, then owls will be nesting in the woods.

In the Field and Garden

When you see foxes and coyotes mating (or at any time this month), check livestock for parasite reinfection. Also look for ringworm, another cold-weather scourge. 

On the long winter evenings, take time to check the warm-weather bulbs you brought indoors. Clean and dry them carefully if mold has started to form. 

Purchase grass seed for frost-seeding the lawn; get clover ready for frost-seeding the pasture; be ready to put in spring oats and barley, too. Consider a special hog pasture mix for your pigs. Plan to seed after the snow has melted but when the nights are still cold and the soil will freeze and crack, allowing the seeds to plant themselves. 

The major lambing and kidding season begins throughout the region: more lambs and kids are born in the next eight weeks than in any other months.

Get ready for Tet, Vietnamese New Year and Chinese New Year on February 1 - 3: The Chinese market is often strong throughout the winter, favoring sheep in the 60 to 80-pound live-weight range. 

Mind and Body

Thanks to the weak moon, teachers, bosses, children, and other temperamental persons should be relatively reasonable all week. Police, fire fighters and health care workers should have a lighter-than-average load. With the moon entering its mild second quarter on January 9, you could be calm enough to review your tax situation throughout the weekend.

On the other hand, the S.A.D. Index (which measures the forces that contribute to seasonal affective disorders on a scale of 1 to 100) hovers in the troublesome 90s and 80s until January 9, after which it falls into the more moderate 70s until the Moon grows full.

Almanack Literature

The Case of the Frozen Bullfrogs

By Susan Perkins, Hardtimes Farm, Ky.

Years ago, when I still lived in Missouri, I would talk on the phone with my friend Carol. We had a lot in common and never ran out of stories to tell. We both loved the country, we both had a milk cow, made garden, picked berries and owned horses. We never ran short of things to talk about.

 During one of our conversations, Carol told me her husband brought a mess of bullfrogs home the night before, and she cleaned them and put them in the freezer. It was early May.

 “Carol,” I said, “it’s not frog hunting season.”

 “I know,” she said, “but you know Dave.”

Later that day, a friend stopped by for coffee. Curt and I told him about the frog hunting story. Together, we hatched a plan to fix the illegal hunter, a lesson he would never forget.

Our friend Delbert called Carol’s house and said, “This is the Missouri conservation department, and we have a report on some illegal frogs that may be in your possession. We are sending a game warden to your house to inspect your freezer.” With that, he hung up.

I waited five minutes and called Carol.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Oh my God!” she said. “The game warden is on his way to check my freezer for bullfrogs. I have an owl in there I plan on mounting and….”

“Quick,” I said, “Bring them over here and put them in my freezer and fast. They will never find them here.”

I hung up the phone, and we laughed for ten minutes. Suddenly, a cloud of smoke came over the hill on our dirt road, and we knew it had to be Dave

He came up the stairs of our house and peeked down the basement steps where we were all sitting in the basement.

“I think someone was following me!” he said, out of breath. He ran to the big freezer we kept in our basement and put the frog legs inside.

We waited a respectable amount of time before we ate every one of those frog legs. Years later I told Carol about the joke. She fell out laughing and said, “Dave has never hunted frogs illegally since that day.”

The 2022 Poor Will’s Almanack is still available. Order from www.amazon.com or visit www.poorwillsalmanack.com to look at a sample of this year’s features and to order an autographed copy of your book. You can order with PayPal or by sending a $22.00 check for each autographed copy (includes handling and media mail) to Poor Will at the address below.

Poor Will Pays for Your Stories!

Poor Will pays $4.00 for unusual and true farm, garden, animal and even love stories used in this almanack! Send yours to Poor Will’s Almanack at P.O. Box 431, Yellow Springs, Ohio 45387 or to wlfelker@gmail.com.

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEK’S SCKRAMBLER

To estimate your SCKRAMBLER IQ, award yourself 15 points for each word unscrambled, adding a 50-point bonus for getting all of them correct. If you find a typo, add another 15 points to your IQ.

GROWING WINGGRO

KNOWING KINNOWG

SNOWING SOWINNG

SHOWING HOWSING

OWING GOINW

GOING GGOIN

BESTOWING TOWBESING

DESTROYING GNIYORTSED

OUTGOING GGOINTUO

FOREGOING F OOGGREIN

 

THIS WEEK’S RHYMING SCKRAMBLER

BRNOW

NOCLW

WOND

DONHU

DOSUN

NOUDAR

SOUURRND

BUNAOD

GRANOUD

DNUORGEROF

 

Copyright 2022 – W. L. Felker