April17, Monday -- Bay of Pigs invasion launched, 1961. Moon on Equator.
April 18, Tuesday -- Full Egg Moon. San Francisco earthquake, 1906. The "Midnight Ride of Paul Revere," 1775.April 19, Wednesday -- USS Iowa exploded, 1989. U.S. abandoned gold standard, 1933.
April 20, Thursday -- First day of Passover. Daphne du Maurier died, Cornwall, 1989.
April 21, Friday -- Good Friday. Rome founded, 753 B.C. The Red Baron shot down, 1918.
April 22, Saturday -- Oklahoma Land Rush, 1889. First Earth Day observed, 1970.
April 23, Sunday -- Easter. Child actress, Shirley Temple Black born, 1928.
Ask the Old Farmer's Almanac: Where does the term "star boarder" come from? --SJ.P., Pampa, Texas
Answer: The phrase has two different origins, one nautical and the other landlubber. The nautical term is more often spelled as one word, starboarder, from the word starboard or right-hand side, but you do see it as two words, as well. Starboard comes from the two words for steer and paddle, and the word today derives from the German custom of steering a boat by means of a paddle anchored along the right-hand, rear-side of the ship. A starboarder, then, or star boarder, was any boat steered by a starboard paddle.
The other and probably more frequently used phrase come from boarding house tenants, or boarders, and those designated as particularly desirable -- thus star (stellar) boarders. The turn of phrase was made more meaningful and well-known today by Charlie Chaplin's 1914 movie by that name. In his "Star Boarder," directed by George Nichols, Charlie Chaplin himself was the favored boarder of his landlady (Minte Durfee) and he took on her care after she had fallen from a ladder. The short comedy was classic Charlie Chaplin slapstick.
Some old-timers may also remember a poster of Star Boarder, a performance with Charles H. Doyle, who was an early imitator of John Philips Sousa. The poster shows the Star Boarder in various poses of conducting.
More recently, there is a mystery novel by B. J. Morison (North Country Press, November 1996) called Port and a Star Boarder, combining the two twists on the phrase. The cover shows a boat at sea, and the storyline is set in Bar Harbor, Maine, where the Star Boarder comes to stay -- until murder disrupts the scene.
One reader we know recalls the phrase as the catch-all for any houseguests, stellar or otherwise, and says that as a child she thought her mother was calling them "starved boarders" because they always seemed to need to be fed. Like fish and houseguests, we guess, even star boarders begin the stink after three days.
Ask the Old Farmer's Almanac: Is this week's Full Egg Moon so-named because of Easter? --H. P., Lihue, Hawaii
Answer: Sorry, no cigar for that one. The Full Moon names are Native American in origin, although some Europeans seem to have used them, as well, or some of them, anyway. In Europe they generally have the Full Rose Moon rather than the Full Strawberry Moon that we have here, for example. The Full Egg Moon was named by Native Americans who knew April as a time when birds' eggs became abundant once again and could supplement their winter-wearied diet. Easter was not one of their celebrations, needless to say, and their concern with eggs was a much more practical one.
Other names for the Full Egg Moon are the Full Pink Moon (for the early spring ground phlox or "pinks" that are so widespread), or the Full Sprouting Grass Moon. Some coastal tribes knew it as the Full Fish Moon for the shad that were seen coming upstream to spawn during this time of year.
Like the springtime Full Egg Moon, however, Easter egg rituals also go back to rites of spring. Europeans and Russians took Easter egg decorating to a high art form after the egg was chosen to represent the Christian Resurrection and return of spring itself. In some parts of Europe and Asia it was even customary to bury an egg with loved ones who had passed on, as a symbol of the continuity of new life after death.
Ask the Old Farmer's Almanac: Since April is often so rainy, can you give us some prognosticators of impending rain? --R. L., Nashua, N.H.
Answer: There are dozens, but we'll go back a few centuries and give you a few from Willsford's "Treatise on Nature Secrets," published in 1658. His Old Time Signs of Rain included these tips:
Beasts eating greedily, and more than usual, prenotes foul weather; and all small Cattel (sic), that seeme to rejoyce with playing and sporting themselves, forshews Rain.
Oxen and all kind of Neat, if you do at any time observe them to hold up their heads and snuffle in the air, or lick their hooves, or their bodies against the hair, expect then rainy weather.
Asses or Mules, rubbing often their ears, or braying much more than they usually are accustomed, presages Rain.
Hogs crying and running unquietly up and down, with Hay or Litter in their mouths, forshews a Storm to be near at hand.
Moles plying their works, in undermining the Earth, foreshews Rain; but if they forsake their Trenches and creep above ground in summertime, it is a sign of hot weather; but when on a sudden they do forsake the Valleys and low grounds, it forshews a Flood near at hand; but their coming into Meadows presages fair weather, and for certain no floods.
The lamentable croaking of Frogs more than ordinary, does denote Rainy weather.
Glow Worms, Snayles, and all such creatures, do appear most against fair weather; but if Worms come out of the Earth much in the day-time, it is a presage of wet weather; but in the Summer evenings it foreshews dewy nights, and hot days to follow.
Send your questions to: Ask the Almanac, The Old Farmer's Almanac, Main St., Dublin, NH 03444. Every day the editors of The Old Farmer's Almanac answer a question on the Internet. All questions are archived there as well. On the World Wide Web, the address is www.almanac.com &#copy; Yankee Publishing Inc. Distributed by United Feature Syndicate Inc.