Living in the Old Farmer's Almanac in September 2013
Happy Mabon!
Farmer's Calendar
Long before supermarkets and big-box storers, the small town general store was the lifeblood of the community, supplying the townspeople and those living in the surrounding rural area with just about everything that they didn't grow or make themselves.
The store usually had only one room with a counter, a butcher's table, and shelves from floor to ceiling that were packed with a variety of goods. Customers could buy staples such as coffee, spices, and baking supplies, as well as locally grown fruits and vegetables that were often brought in by farmers who bartered for needed items. The dry goods section kept patrons well stocked with essentials, including bolts of cloth, sewing materials, shoes, clothing, guns and ammunition, lamps and lamp oils, cooking utensils, and farming supplies. Wooden barrels filled with apples and dill pickles tempted patrons, and jars of penny candy delighted children. Often, the store housed the post office and provided a bench and a few chairs where residents gathered to catch up on the local news.
You can still find these old-time general stores, although they aren't as plentiful. Much of the merchandise has changed, but they're still great places for sharing a cup of coffee and a little gossip with friends.
The store usually had only one room with a counter, a butcher's table, and shelves from floor to ceiling that were packed with a variety of goods. Customers could buy staples such as coffee, spices, and baking supplies, as well as locally grown fruits and vegetables that were often brought in by farmers who bartered for needed items. The dry goods section kept patrons well stocked with essentials, including bolts of cloth, sewing materials, shoes, clothing, guns and ammunition, lamps and lamp oils, cooking utensils, and farming supplies. Wooden barrels filled with apples and dill pickles tempted patrons, and jars of penny candy delighted children. Often, the store housed the post office and provided a bench and a few chairs where residents gathered to catch up on the local news.
You can still find these old-time general stores, although they aren't as plentiful. Much of the merchandise has changed, but they're still great places for sharing a cup of coffee and a little gossip with friends.
SKY WATCH ☆ Venus hovers above blue Spica on the 6th and 7th. The planet stubbornly remains just 10 degrees above the horizon some 40 minutes after sunset but has the brightness to magnitude -4.1. It is close to the Moon, with Spica just below and Saturn to the upper left on the 8th. Saturn stands to the right of the Moon on the 9th and then hovers above Venus from the 15th to the 19th. Jupiter, brightening to magnitude -2.1 and rising ever earlier, clears the horizon at around 1:00 A.M. and is well up for viewing during the predawn hours. It meets the Moon on the 28th and stands high up at dawn. The autumnal equinox brings fall at 4:44 A.M. on the 22nd.
Weather
Scholars
are
hot
under
their
collars.
Cool
and
sweet;
sidewalks
will
sauté
bare
feet!
Save
your
soles!
Lightning
flickers:
Get
down
from those
trees,
apple
pickers!
Cooling
trend
at
summer's
end.
are
hot
under
their
collars.
Cool
and
sweet;
sidewalks
will
sauté
bare
feet!
Save
your
soles!
Lightning
flickers:
Get
down
from those
trees,
apple
pickers!
Cooling
trend
at
summer's
end.
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