north coast almanack / By Amy Stewart

August 1-15, 2010

Aug. 9: New moon 8:08 p.m. Don’t make any sudden moves.

Aug. 10: After hatching, guinea fowl chicks should be handled and fed with the same care and attention as ringneck pheasants.

Aug. 11: Rumor has it that the local fire departments will be cruising alleyways in search of dry, overgrown vegetation. Send reports of citations to us. Whether the rumors are true or not, this is a good time to whack away at the overgrowth and haul it off.

Aug. 12: The Earth has entered the path of Comet Swift-Tuttle, which first passed by when Abraham Lincoln was president, and again in 1992, when someone else was. The debris left in its wake (the comet’s, not the president’s) creates the Perseids meteor shower, visible to us this time of year as we drift through it. The moon will set by 10 p.m. tonight, just as the shower is peaking, making it plainly visible in the dark sky after midnight.

Aug. 13: Eureka has been visited by a series of gold peddlers who arrive in town, place an advertisement in one of the larger newspapers and offer to pay cash for gold and jewelry at an appointed time. Those looking to trade their precious goods for money flock to these events, standing in line for hours, fingering their rings and tie tacks, hoping for a fair price. The local gold peddlers have become greatly exercised over this turn of events; they’ve taken to showing up, uninvited, at the rented room the out-of-towners have reserved. They hand out their cards and promise a better rate of exchange, any day of the week, at their usual places of business just down the street. But there is a particular kind of person who prefers to hand over gold in a quiet carpeted hotel banquet room, and nothing will deter them, not even a better offer. The visiting gold peddlers have found it necessary to call the police on their local brethren, but anyone who deals in precious metals knows how to slink away unnoticed, and so far no arrests have been made.

Aug. 14: Eating too much celery causes sunburn.

Aug. 15: The Countess of Carlisle offers the following advice: “If afflicted with bad health, avoid complaint; it is an increasing habit, affording no essential relief to the sufferer and apt to make the lives of others as irksome as your own.”

1 2 SHARE