August 28

Two of the yearly prognosticators have appeared, and as usual only time will tell if they are accurate, or coincide.

The grocery store contains the latest copy of the Farmer’s Almanac, and I admit to browsing one for the winter prediction. This becomes an important topic of conversation this time of year, as we put to rest our summer leisure (farmers excluded) and look to the inevitable that will arrive.

I am particularly keen on this forecast, for I have yet to order a wood delivery, and the severity of the winter certainly affects the stock. We are low on hardwood in the barn, and it’s time to get a cord or two (or three) of seasoned sticks dumped in the side yard.

The almanac forecasts a colder and snowier winter, and while we’ve come to expect a 50% accuracy in their predicting skills, much in the manner of the groundhog, it’s difficult to ignore this forecast. A typical New England winter coming, full of everything and then some.

The wooly bear caterpillars are also out more conspicuously now. We’ve seen juveniles crawling about on the roadways and driveways where they are easier to spot. Folklore has them as a predictor of the winter severity, depending on the relative thickness of the black bands to the browns, or is it the other way around? Take your pick, I suppose, for like most such things, the evidence of efficacy is at best 50/50. Thus far, I’ve seen woolies with more brown than black and woolies with more black than brown, and I suppose Mother Nature is ambivalent about the winter and about the Farmer’s Almanac this year.

Notes:

Boneset in flower