Here Comes Another One, Just Like The Other One––

New Old Farmer’s Almanac Predicts Colder, Snowier Winter

Don’t look now but the leaves have started falling.

And in case you didn’t notice it, around dinnertime on Thursday night (at precisely 6:23 pm) we were poised on the cusp of the Autumnal Equinox.

For a very brief period of time, all things were equal as could be. Twelve hours of daylight were balanced by 12 hours of night. Such a satisfactory period for completing those critical tasks that fill our lives. Eating, sleeping, getting up, going to school or work, doing power errands such as banking, getting gas, and buying cat food.

We love the fall because we don’t have to wear our down jackets, Gortex mittens, and woolen ski hats to simply walk outside to get the morning paper. It is a tranquil time that follows the frantic, happy activity of summer and precedes That Other Season we prefer not to think about quite yet.

For those who are able to live fully in the moment, the coming of fall means the sound of bees buzzing in fields of goldenrod and the sight of maples turning crimson. It means savoring the cooler, longer evenings, and rising in relative darkness before a pink sunrise.

We should enjoy fall right now, because what comes after it does not look nearly so friendly or comfortable.

And what a winter it may be.

The 2006 Old Farmer’s Almanac, 214th edition that just hit the newsstands on September 13, has predicted a repeat performance of last year’s intense cold and piled-up snow.

Wild weather swings will again be the pattern…Without a strong La Nina or El Nino, the Atlantic Ocean grows more important as a major factor in the weather.

So says the Old Farmer on page 196.

Not much we can do about the Atlantic Ocean except to note that we live right next to it.

Then this pronouncement.

Snowfall will be well above normal from Boston to Washington, D.C.

Apparently, the continued warming trend in the Arctic also means that cold air builds up over the North American continent and especially in the northeastern corridor. No way that we Connecticut Yankees don’t get clobbered.

 

 Almanac As Escapist Reading

Happily, the 2006 Old Farmer’s Almanac is not just about bad weather.

There is a great deal more information contained within those 256 pages between the familiar golden covers that serves a useful purpose and that may even distract us from everyday problems.

 We can delve into the monthly star charts and scan for timeless events such as eclipses, meteor showers, solstices, and equinoxes. Note their monthly occurrences on the kitchen calendar and plan family parties around them.

Our gardening year may be scheduled according to the “First And Last Frost” calendar. In Connecticut where we have 167 growing days, that means bringing the geraniums inside the house by October 10, and not planting impatiens until April 25 –– though some say Memorial Day is safer.

Be glad you don’t live in Duluth, Minn., that has only 122 frost-free days. If you move to Charleston, S.C., you’ll get 253.

For riveting escapist reading, you can’t beat the Farmer’s Almanac advertisements. End a lifetime of foot pain. Buy Gorilla Glue. Enjoy Endless Summer by putting up peaches using your Ball Home Canning System. Order a Genie Wishing Lamp for instant miracles.

Beyond the astronomical calculations, we all enjoy the monthly essays that bring humor and focus to such old-time country activities as chopping wood or putting up storm windows.

We can find out how to make marriage last 50 years, and learn how our handwriting reflects personality. Read the story behind the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 (100-year anniversary) and celebrate the 50th anniversary of America’s Interstate Highway System.

There are witty poems and wise words to live by, as the almanac offers ways we can improve our lives, such as growing an Empress Tree, planting a kitchen garden, composting worms, and drinking more grape juice.

Finally, we may gather comfort from those little line drawings of pastoral scenes that add such a nostalgic touch. A perennial favorite is the delicately colored, front-page illustration of a young lady in a flowing gown sitting under an oak tree. She has put aside her threshing duties to rest in the shade and water her roses. Meanwhile, her industrious husband (or is it her son?) toils in the field behind a plow.

We all want to be that lady because where she lives, winter never comes.