Robert B. Thomas - The Old Farmers Almanac 2018

THE OLD FARMERS ALMANAC

Established in 1792 and published every year thereafter

R OBERT B. T HOMAS , founder (17661846)

Y ANKEE P UBLISHING I NC .

EDITORIAL AND PUBLISHING OFFICES

P.O. Box 520, 1121 Main Street, Dublin, NH 03444

Phone: 603-563-8111 Fax: 603-563-8252

EDITOR (13th since 1792): Janice Stillman

ART DIRECTOR: Colleen Quinnell

MANAGING EDITOR : Jack Burnett

SENIOR EDITORS : Sarah Perreault, Heidi Stonehill

EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS : Tim Clark,

Mare-Anne Jarvela, Benjamin Kilbride

WEATHER GRAPHICS AND CONSULTATION :

AccuWeather, Inc.

V.P., NEW MEDIA AND PRODUCTION:

Paul Belliveau

PRODUCTION DIRECTORS:

Susan Gross, David Ziarnowski

SENIOR PRODUCTION ARTISTS:

Rachel Kipka, Jennifer Freeman, Janet Selle

WEB SITE: ALMANAC.COM

DIGITAL EDITOR : Catherine Boeckmann

DIGITAL ASSISTANT EDITOR : Christopher Burnett

NEW MEDIA DESIGNERS : Lou S. Eastman, Amy OBrien

E-COMMERCE DIRECTOR : Alan Henning

PROGRAMMING : Peter Rukavina

We welcome your questions and comments about articles in and topics for this Almanac. Mail all editorial correspondence to Editor, The Old Farmers Almanac, P.O. Box 520, Dublin, NH 03444-0520; fax us at 603-563-8252; or contact us through Almanac.com/Feedback. The Old Farmers Almanac can not accept responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts and will not acknowledge any hard-copy queries or manuscripts that do not include a stamped and addressed return envelope.

Thank you for buying this Almanac! We hope that you find it useful, with a pleasant degree of humor. Thanks, too, to everyone who had a hand in it, including advertisers, distributors, printers, and sales and delivery people.

No part of this Almanac may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other) without written permission of the publisher.

OUR CONTRIBUTORS

Bob Berman, our astronomy editor, is the director of Overlook Observatory in Woodstock and Storm King Observatory in Cornwall, both in New York. In 1976, he founded the Catskill Astronomical Society. Bob has led many aurora and eclipse expeditions, venturing as far as the Arctic and Antarctic.

Tim Clark, a retired high school English teacher from New Hampshire, wrote the Farmers Calendar essays that appear in this edition. His recordings of them are available free at Almanac.com/Podcast. He has composed the weather doggerel on the Calendar Pages since 1980.

Bethany E. Cobb, our astronomer, earned a Ph.D. in astronomy at Yale University and is an Assistant Professor of Honors and Physics at George Washington University. She also conducts research on gamma-ray bursts and follows numerous astronomy pursuits, including teaching astronomy to adults at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UC Berkeley. When she is not scanning the sky, she enjoys playing the violin, figure skating, and reading science fiction.

Celeste Longacre, our astrologer, often refers to astrology as a study of timing, and timing is everything. A New Hampshire native, she has been a practicing astrologer for more than 25 years. Her book, Celestes Garden Delights (2015), is available for sale on her Web site, www.celestelongacre.com.

Michael Steinberg, our meteorologist, has been forecasting weather for the Almanac since 1996. In addition to college degrees in atmospheric science and meteorology, he brings a lifetime of experience to the task: He began predicting weather when he attended the only high school in the world with weather Teletypes and radar.

Established in 1792 and published every year thereafter

R OBERT B. T HOMAS , founder (17661846)

Y ANKEE P UBLISHING I NC .

P.O. Box 520, 1121 Main Street, Dublin, NH 03444

Phone: 603-563-8111 Fax: 603-563-8252

PUBLISHER (23rd since 1792): Sherin Pierce

EDITOR IN CHIEF : Judson D. Hale Sr.

FOR DISPLAY ADVERTISING RATES

Go to Almanac.com/AdvertisingInfo or Call 800-895-9265, ext. 109

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FOR CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

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AD PRODUCTION COORDINATOR:

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PUBLIC RELATIONS

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Call 800-ALMANAC (800-256-2622) or go to Almanac.com/Shop

CONSUMER MARKETING MANAGER:

Kate McPherson 800-895-9265, ext. 188

RETAIL SALES

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Janice Edson, ext. 126

DISTRIBUTORS

NATIONAL : Curtis Circulation Company

New Milford, NJ

BOOKSTORE : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Boston, MA

Old Farmers Almanac publications are available for sales promotions or premiums. Contact Beacon Promotions, .

Y ANKEE P UBLISHING I NCORPORATED

Jamie Trowbridge, President; Judson D. Hale Sr., Senior Vice President; Paul Belliveau, Jody Bugbee, Judson D. Hale Jr., Brook Holmberg, Sherin Pierce, Vice Presidents.

The Old Farmers Almanac/Yankee Publishing Inc. assumes no responsibility for claims made by advertisers or failure by its advertisers to deliver any goods or services advertised herein. Publication of any advertisement by The Old Farmers Almanac/Yankee Publishing Inc. is not an endorsement of the product or service advertised therein.

YOUR LIFE WITH THIS ALMANAC

Last year, to celebrate this Almanacs 225th anniversary, we invited you to tell us what the Almanac means to you. Thanks to everyone who responded! Wed like to share a few of the comments:

• My Almanac makes my life richer and my thumb greener and my decisions more thoughtful and more planned. Paul P.

• I have learned that sometimes the old ways [are] the best ways. Dimitri K.

• The Almanac means tradition, wisdom, pause, and work... curiosity and entertainment, information and snickers... and when to cut my hair. Its logic and whimsy wrapped in the tried and true. Meridien P.

• The Almanac was one of my first readers. Seventy-four years later, it is still one of my favorite readers and is my favorite reference. Charles R.

• My Uncle Stony taught me how to read the charts in the Almanac.... When I became a teacher, I made sure that every student knew how to read and use it. John J.

• Life may be complicated, but as long as you have the Almanac, you have the answers. Benita Y.

• Its a fantastic link to the world around us. Charles T.

• Its part of my upbringing, and to this day, I refer to it off and on. Lynn T.

• My mom and pop live miles away, but the Almanac brings us together. Sharon B.

• To live a simpler, well-balanced lifestyle, with a side order of humor. Grant K.

• Its a bit of the past, the present, and the future all rolled up into one. Callie S.

Heres something else wed like to share: Your daily Almanac is now available on the Amazon Echo and Google Home voice-operated assistants! Say Ask Farmers Almanac about today and get date-specific fun facts and trivia seven times a week. Check it out! Well be introducing other useful features, too.

And theres this: Beginning with this year, our previous Western and Southern editions will be supplanted by this new, more robust National edition that is usable throughout the United States. If you previously used our Western or Southern edition, we hope you enjoy the improvement.