Brace Yourself, A Cold Winter Is Coming—

2005 Old Farmer’s Almanac

 Hits Newsstands

 

Nearly all of the country will have above-normal snowfall or colder-than-normal temperatures –– or both –– this winter.

 

That’s the prediction made on page 66 of the 2005 Old Farmer’s Almanac this week when the familiar little yellow book with the hole punched in its corner went on sale. Though most weather forecasters are right 50 percent of the time, the Old Farmer claims an 80 percent accuracy rate, so we had better pay attention.

But what if we don’t like winter or we don’t want to think about it quite yet?

We can just ignore page 66. There are plenty of distractions in all sorts of stories, astronomical facts, planting guides, fashion advice, wit and whimsy contained within the 255 other pages of this venerable handbook that has delighted farmers, homebodies, and country-minded folk since it was first published by Robert D. Thomas in 1792.

We can read about a Kentucky man who was buried alive in 1925, learn about a new board game called Cashflow, or bake our own Hand-Tossed Fluffy Biscuits according to a tried-and-true recipe provided on page 155.

Discover how close the average person can get to a hog barn before smelling it. Be amazed along with our Connecticut neighbors living in the town of Berlin where it rained frogs on September 19, 2003.

Escape to 1955 (page 210) and relive our salad days of Bobby-soxers, Elvis, and Velveeta cheese-topped casseroles in a six-page 50th anniversary retrospective article that is chock full of pictures and pastimes from those long-ago days.

Could the price of bread really have been 18 cents in 1955? If the Old Farmer says so, it must have been true.

But we’re still not convinced he can predict the future. This coming winter could be a walk in the park. Or not. Better start buying birdseed and rock salt just in case.