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season: late-spring
section: what the stars are showing
---

- leo rules the high sky, regulus burning blue-white at his chest
- virgo follows behind with spica, a pale blue star low in the southeast
- the big dipper is overhead now, nearly upside down
- follow the dipper's handle to arc to arcturus, the brightest star in the north sky
- bootes the herdsman stands tall, shaped like a kite, arcturus at his base
- corvus the crow, four stars in a small square, sits low in the south

in the old almanacs, when arcturus stood high and orion was gone, it meant the soil was truly warm. plant anything now.

spica in virgo was the grain sheaf in the goddess's hand. the romans timed their grain harvest by this star. its name comes from the latin for "ear of wheat." it appears with the planting and leaves with the reaping.

corvus the crow was placed in the sky by apollo as punishment for bringing bad news. the old farmers saw the four stars and thought of the real crows in their fields, always watching, always waiting for the seeds.