Living in the Old Farmer's Almanac in January 2013

I love the Old Farmer's Almanac:

Farmer's Calendar

 In many ways, plowing snow is hard work.The hours are unpredictable, and breakdowns or getting stuck are possibilities. Still, I can't think of a better way to to enjoy midwinter's night. The cold is bone-chilling and the snow is mounting up at the rate of two inches per hour, but I'm warm and secure in the cab of my plow truck. I usually wait until the storm is over so that I have to plow my customers only once, which saves them money, but this storm is a blockbuster and I'm afraid that if I war, my pickup won't be able to handle the heavy, wet snow.

Except for the occasional plow truck that I meet on the road, I have this wonderful world of white to myself. The night is peaceful and beautiful. I'm mesmerized by the reflection of my rotating yellow beacon on the fast-falling flakes and by the hypnotic, rhythmic slapping of the wiper blades. Snow-laden tree branches bend over the road, forming an enticing tunnel. It's only 1:00 A.M., and plowing the last driveway on the route. The snow should be able to catch a few hours of sleep before starting again. The landscape will take on a new charm in the bright morning sun, but there will be cars on the road and people out shoveling and snowplowing. Then, it will be time to share my world with everyone else.

SKY WATCH ☆ The year begins with our nearest neighbors, Venus and Mars, both vanishing into morning and evening, respectively. This leaves brilliant Jupiter as the sole luminary, up in the east at nightfall at a dazzling magnitude -2.7. Having just enjoyed its opposition a month ago, Jupiter will now fade throughout the year, and return to its current brilliance only in December. Saturn, in Libra, at a bright magnitude 0.6, doesn't rise until 2:00 A.M. Earth reaches perihelion on the 1st. The crescent Moon hovers to right of Uranus, visible with binoculars, on the 16th. The month's premier conjunction is the striking close meeting of the Moon and Jupiter on the 21st.

Weather

Flake-up
call!
Sunny
glows
and
records
lows.
Whitening -
snow's
lightening.
Northern
spits
and
southern
spatters;
latitude
is
all
that
matters.
Fisrt
it
flurries,
then
it
sloshes;
trade
your
snowshoes
for
galoshes!

26 January - Sts. Timothy & Titus; Full Wolf ⃝ Tides {9.6; 10.4 - my birthday

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