![[]](/sites/all/modules/ubercart/uc_cart/images/bullet-arrow-up.gif "Expand cart block."){kind=icon}
There are no products in your shopping cart.
POOR WILL'S ALMANACK
FOR 2009
IS NOW AVAILABLE
TO ORDER YOUR COPY, SEND $16.00 - CHECK OR MONEY ORDER
(WHICH INCLUDES SHIPPING AND HANDLING).
(WHICH INCLUDES SHIPPING AND HANDLING).
And each Almanack has a ribbon marker - be sure to specify what color marker you would like.
TO
POOR WILL'S ALMANACK
P.O. BOX 431
YELLOW SPRINGS, OHIO 45387
You can also click on PRODUCTS above and order using PAYPAL!
Poor Will’s Almanack for 2009
is divided into 12 chapters, one for each month of the year.
Each chapter contains the following sections:
Seasonal Quotations
Essay by Bill Felker
The Names & Phases of the Moon
The Sun’s Progress
The Location of Major Planets & Stars
Shooting Stars
Zeitgebers: Events in Nature That Tell the Time of Year
The Almanack Daybook
Calendar of Flowering Plants, Trees & Shrubs
The Allergy Index (March through October)
Peak Activity Times for Livestock, Fish & Game
The S.A.D. Index
Almanack Literature (Reader Stories)
Sckrambler Puzzles & Logical Almanacker Puzzles
with Prizes for each Month of 2009
Index of Seasonal Essays &Special Features by Bill Felker
The Names of the Year's Moons
January: January Thaws
February: Counting Berries
March: Tracking the Weather
April: The Ripening of Spring
May: Watching Some Yellow Springs Tadpoles
June: The Critical Point
July: Tithing and Trash
August: Notebook at the End of Late Summer
September: The Moods of Early Fall
October: At the Beach
November: Watching Winter Koi
December: On Finding Angels in the Woods
Index of Almanack Literature
January: The Babysitter’s Club by Patty Greene, Rockville, Indiana
February: The Little Red Hen by Cristine Arter, Crestline, Ohio
March: Weird Ben by Lois Rivard, Switzerland County, Indiana
April: Nemo by Clarence Dinnen, Jamestown, Ohio
May: King of the World by Ann Dennis
June: An Imitation Chicken Story by Pat Rodeffer, Modoc, Indiana
July: Twinkles by Tressie Yoder, Shipshewana, Indiana
August: Rainy Day by Sara Beck, Louisville, Kentucky
September: One of a Kind by Marlene Arcuri, Crestline, Ohio
October: Flight Kills Chickens by Nancy Searfoss
November: Lights Out by Karen Kruger, Flushing, Michigan
December: Let Sleeping Hogs Lie by Naomi Bliss, Switzerland County, Indiana
SAMPLE TEXT OF
POOR WILL'S ALMANACK FOR 2009
NOVEMBER
I sense the adequacy of the world, and believe that everything I need is here. I do not strain after ambition or heaven. I feel no dependence on tomorrow. I do not long to travel to Italy or Japan, but only across the river or up the hill into the woods.
Wendell Berry
WATCHING WINTER KOI
Every winter, the two koi in our small pond stop feeding when the water temperature reaches the low 40s. Both fish are about a foot long. Zelda is golden orange; Emmett is white with black markings. They lie side by side in the deepest water near the pump, slowly moving their fins but not responding when I walk close to them or when I put a rake near them to remove leaves. They will remain almost motionless until April when the high, warm sun and singing toads arouse them.
Zelda and Emmett seem to have no worries. This is their eighth winter in the pond. They seem to know that there is nothing they can do to change the course of the season. They do not challenge the narrow boundaries of their habitat. There is nothing they can do to alter their future. There is nothing they can do if .....
Zelda and Emmett seem to have no worries. This is their eighth winter in the pond. They seem to know that there is nothing they can do to change the course of the season. They do not challenge the narrow boundaries of their habitat. There is nothing they can do to alter their future. There is nothing they can do if .....
THE BUZZARD MIGRATION MOON &
THE SANDHILL CRANE MIGRATION MOON
After the buzzards leave the North, the Sandhill Cranes follow, flying higher, harder and more purposefully than the vultures, and leaving behind their haunting cries.
November 2: The Buzzard Migration Moon is full at 2:14 p.m.
November 9: The moon enters its last quarter at 10:56 a.m.
November 16: The Sandhill Crane Migration Moon is new at 2:14 p.m.
November 24: The moon enters its second quarter at 4:39 p.m.
November 9: The moon enters its last quarter at 10:56 a.m.
November 16: The Sandhill Crane Migration Moon is new at 2:14 p.m.
November 24: The moon enters its second quarter at 4:39 p.m.
THE SUN’S PROGRESS
Daylight Savings Time ends at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 1st. The sun’s declination moves from 14 degrees, 13 on the first of the month to 21 degrees, 32 minutes by November 30th. On November 22nd, the sun enters the early winter sign of Sagittarius and reaches within two degrees of solstice at the same time.
THE PLANETS
Saturn remains in Virgo this month, rising before Venus, which continues to move retrograde into Libra. Mars stays in Cancer overhead at dawn. Jupiter sets in Capricorn after sundown.
THE STARS
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 forever around Polaris. Pisces lies due south, promising the thaws of late February, and Sirius is emerging from the eastern horizon, prophet of the Dog Days of July.
THE SHOOTING STARS
The Leonids are the shooting stars of November. Watch for them on after midnight on the 17th and 18th.
ZEITGEBERS
(Events in Nature That Tell the Time of Year)
WEEK 1: Zeitgebers for this week include the blooming of early orchids, jade trees and Christmas cacti indoors, the yellowing of ginkgoes and white mulberries, the sudden turning of the late sugar maples, the slow turning of the silver maples, the reddening of the oaks, the shedding of red mulberry leaves.
WEEK 2: Zeitgebers include the emergence of...........
WEEK 2: Zeitgebers include the emergence of...........
THE NOVEMBER ALMANACK DAYBOOK
November 1: Late bulbs, garlic, shrubs, and trees can be planted in November throughout much of the nation. The finest lunar and meteorological time of all for that activity will occur between full moon and the end of the moon’s fourth quarter, November 3rd through the 16th. In northern states, it might be wise, however, to plant as soon as possible, preferably before the weather turns much chillier after November 4th. Do late shearing, trim hair on goats, slaughter livestock, give vaccinations, treat for internal and external parasites under the dark moon. Throughout the South, seed grains and vegetables that bear their fruit above the ground under the waxing moon (after the 16th).
November 2: If major storms occur this month, weather patterns suggest that they will happen in the following periods: November 2 - 5, 14 - 16 and November 22 - 27. Full moon increases the likelihood for bad weather today and tomorrow. New moon on the 16th increases the chances for trouble during the mid-November storm time.
November 3: Cabbage worms still eat the cabbage. Some years, houseflies still get in the back door. Crickets sing in the milder afternoons and nights. A few butterflies hunt for flowers. Grasshoppers are still common. Small tan moths, like the first to emerge in March, play in the sun. The last robins and doves follow the valleys south.
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. Silver maples seem to be untouched by the radical shift in the season; they hold until the nights go into the teens.
Dogwoods will be pink, magnolias gold for a few days longer. Poplars are yellow but holding. Gum and beech are still full. Beneath them, privet and spicebush will remain strong throughout much of the month.
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. Silver maples seem to be untouched by the radical shift in the season; they hold until the nights go into the teens.
Dogwoods will be pink, magnolias gold for a few days longer. Poplars are yellow but holding. Gum and beech are still full. Beneath them, privet and spicebush will remain strong throughout much of the month.
November 4: Gardeners should put in spring bulbs and dormant roses, and mulch perennials. Test the soil, and mow the lawn for the last time. Farmers should plant the final winter wheat and complete the harvest of corn, sugar beets and soybeans.
November 5: Late fall, a three- to- four-week transition period of chilly temperatures, gray skies, and killing frosts, usually arrives by today, and the 5th is the pivotal day for autumn cloud cover to intensify. A lack of sun means slow drying for wet hay, increased likelihood for mold in feed supplies, and a surge in seasonal affective disorders in humans and beasts.....
Peak Activity Times for Livestock, Fish & Game
Fish, game, livestock and people tend to feed more and are more active as the barometer is falling one to three days before the arrival of the weather systems that arrive near the following dates: November 2, 6, 11, 16, 20, 24 and 28.
THE S.A.D. STRESS INDEX
November is the first month since March that Index readings consistently indicate a high likelihood of seasonal affective disorders. The average length of November’s night is almost as great as the night’s length in December and January; the weather becomes more severe, and clouds thicken: all those factors equal S.A.D.
Day Clouds Weather Day Totals
November 1: 10 12 21 43
November 1: 10 12 21 43
Extra Stress Days: November 2 full moon) add 10 pts.
November 16 (new moon) add 5 pts.
ALMANACK LITERATURE
“Lights Out?”
By Karen Kruger, Flushing, Michigan
It is a common consensus among people that sheep are not very intelligent. Well, I’m here to prove there is always an exception!
This past year we had a part Jacob and Cotswold ram born on our farm. His birth was nothing unusual, but his character sure was. He was bold, very curious and had a wild look. As he grew, this behavior was displayed time and time again. The following spring brought with it an experience I shall never forget......
This past year we had a part Jacob and Cotswold ram born on our farm. His birth was nothing unusual, but his character sure was. He was bold, very curious and had a wild look. As he grew, this behavior was displayed time and time again. The following spring brought with it an experience I shall never forget......
NOVEMBER PUZZLES
In the Sckrambler puzzle, unsckramble as many of the words as you can; some of the words may contain typos, so be ready to be creative. And/or solve the Logical Almanacker puzzle. Send your answers on a postcard to Poor Will, P.O. Box 431, Yellow Springs, OH 45387 postmarked between November 1 and November 30, 2009 (ONLY MATERIAL MAILED BETWEEN THOSE DATES WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR THE NOVEMBER PRIZE). Entries received during those four weeks will be placed all mixed up in a washtub, and one entry from either the Sckrambler OR Logical Almanacker puzzle will be chosen at random by a blindfolded Poor Will. The winner will receive a $5.00 check by January 1st, 2010.
THE NOVEMBER SCKRAMBLER
GTAOS
EDO
CUKB
EERHTW
(and many more sckrambled words)
THE LOGICAL ALMANACKER PUZZLE
Now Pete had come to eat Thanksgiving dinner with Sally’s family, and the conversation eventually turned to Pete’s extended family.
“I know there are nine children in the families of your three sisters,” said Sissy, Sally’s mother, “but I don’t remember how many kids are in each family.”
“Well,” replied Pete, “each sister has a husband, and there are more kids than adults in the three families, and besides that, there are more girls than boys and one more boy than families. Not only that, every family as at least one child (remember that Jean has just one child), and no family has the same number of kids. Each boy has.....
“I know there are nine children in the families of your three sisters,” said Sissy, Sally’s mother, “but I don’t remember how many kids are in each family.”
“Well,” replied Pete, “each sister has a husband, and there are more kids than adults in the three families, and besides that, there are more girls than boys and one more boy than families. Not only that, every family as at least one child (remember that Jean has just one child), and no family has the same number of kids. Each boy has.....