Hey, I'm In Good Company...

There are just so many reasons to read the Farmer's Almanac, I can't begin to tell you!

I use the information for a lot of different reasons, and I'm not the only one. Folks have been using this book as a source of dependable information for a long, long time! Don't believe me? Well, here is a little story right out of the history books that will show just what I mean! Even Abe Lincoln agreed...!



The occasion depicted in the above Rockwell painting is the 1858 murder trial of an Illinois man named William "Duff" Armstrong. Armstrong was accused of murdering James Preston Metzker with a "slung-shot"—a weight tied to a leather thong, sort of an early blackjack—a few minutes before midnight of August 29, 1857. Lincoln was a friend of the accused man's father, Jack Armstrong, who'd just died, and so he offered to help defend young Duff Armstrong, without pay, as a favor to Jack Armstrong's widow.

The principal prosecution witness against Armstrong was a man named Charles Allen, who testified that he'd seen the murder from about 150 feet away. When Lincoln asked Allen how he could tell it was Armstrong given that it was the middle of the night and he was a considerable distance away from the murder scene, Allen replied, "By the light of the Moon."

Enter the Almanac!

Upon hearing Allen's testimony, Lincoln produced a copy of the 1857 edition, turned to the two calendar pages for August, and showed the jury that not only was the moon in the first quarter but it was riding "low" on the horizon, about to set, at the precise time of the murder. There would not have been enough light for Allen to identify Armstrong or anyone else, said Lincoln. The jury agreed, and Duff Armstrong was acquitted.

See, you just never know when you might need the Almanac to prove your case, schedule your planting, find the best time to go fishing, find out about the next full moon (ya know, for that special date!) or just to browse through on a cold Winter's night in front of the fire!

Now, my friends, how about some fresh coffee in the kitchen? I have chocolate or tea instead, if that's how you roll!