November 2024
April 2025
[2025] April
The Fourth Month
This month we invite you to listen as you read!
Check out this song written by Mad Doc Johnson, featuring
the vocals of Cassidy Johnson & Danny Johnson --->
April Night Watch: In the evening sky the constellation Leo hunts high overhead highlighting Regulus, the bright white “king” star. On the 1 st the moon sits just above Pleiades, the 7 sisters (Subaru in Japanese!) and meets Jupiter on the 2 nd and Mars on the 5 th . Venus rises higher in the morning Eastern sky. From the 19 th through the 30 th ,Mercury and Saturn may be seen below Venus. In the Predawn South on the 22 nd will be the Lyrid Meteor Shower. On the 25 th the waning crescent Moon joins the planets to the left of Saturn, over Mercury and
above Venus.
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Moon Phases
First Quarter 4 th Day
Full Noon 12 TH Day
(Full Yellow Moon- O’Odham)
Last Quarter 20 th Day
New Moon 27 th Day
April Moon Signs
Best Time To:
Bake: April 4,5
Brew: April 13-15
Begin diet to lose weight: April 16,21
Plant aboveground crops: April 4,5
Plant belowground crops: April 13-15
Best Fishing Days (moon between new and full): April 1-12, 27-30
April has 30 days.
"April hath put a spirit of youth in everything" William Shakespeare
April Weather
“Whenever people talk to me about the weather, I always feel certain that they mean
something else.” - Oscar Wilde
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TUCSON WEATHER AVERAGES FOR APRIL
Record High 104 (1/4/20 & 4/21 1989)
Record Low 50 (4/5/1921 & 4/12/1912)
Record Daily Precipitation 1.17” (4/1/1999)
April Flora and Fauna
Mesquite trees, catclaw acacias and Blue Palo Verde begin blooming this month (Full Yellow
Moon). Cactus begin blooming this month: cholla, hedgehog and prickly pear. Look for buds to start forming on Saguaros. Banana yucca begin sending up their creamy flower stalks. Ocotillos begin blooming delighting hordes of humming birds.
White wing doves return from winter territories, Gambel’s quail begin mating. Butterflies are common again. Snakes are coming out
in force; watch where you step and put your hands! Other reptiles begin breeding this season.
Bobcats bear their litters this month, along with round-tailed and Harris’ antelope ground
squirrels.
Notable April Dates:
April 1: April Fools’ Day
April 4-6: Tucson Folk Festival
April 4, 1944: Birthday of Craig T. Nelson, actor (Poltergeist, Coach). He attended the
University of Arizona
April 5, 1853: Birthday of First Lieutenant Charles Bare Gatewood, an American soldier
who led platoons of Apache and Navajo scouts against renegades during the Apache
Wars. In 1886, he played a key role in ending the Geronimo Campaign by persuading
Geronimo to surrender to the army (d. 1896).
April 6: Cyclovia
April 6, 1838: Birthday of Louis Zeckendorf was a German-born American merchant. He
was primarily involved in the mining industry in New Mexico and Tucson, Arizona, as
well as shipping and supplies in support of that industry (d. 1937).
April 8: Baja Beer Festival
April 8, 1955: Birthday of Barbara Kingsolver, novelist (The Bean Trees, Poisonwood
Bible), essayist and poet. She lived in Tucson.
April 10-13: Agave Heritage Festival
April 10, 1845: Birthday of George Roskruge (April 10, 1845[a] – July 27, 1928) was the
Surveyor General of Arizona Territory from 1896 to 1897. He spent most of his life in
Tucson, Arizona where he held many prominent positions. The first school in Tucson
was named after him (d.1918).
April 10, 1910: Eastern interests obtained a government concession for a dam in Sabino
Canyon and hoped to sell water to Tucson. The concession was later withdrawn.
April 11, 1930: The Fox Theatre opened in downtown Tucson. The film Chasing
Rainbows, and a Mickey Mouse cartoon were shown.
April 12: Passover begins at sundown.
April 12, 1947: Birthday of Robert Wood "Woody" Johnson IV an American
businessman (Johnson and Johnson), philanthropist, sports team owner, and diplomat.
He attended the University of Arizona.
April 13, 1981: Arizona Daily Star reporters Clark Hallas and Robert B. Lowe won a
Pulitzer Prize for their stories about recruiting violations by University of Arizona football
coach Tony Mason.
April 15, 1862: The Battle of Picacho Pass (or Picacho Peak) was an engagement of
the American Civil War that occurred around Picacho Peak, fought between a Union
cavalry patrol from California and a party of Confederate pickets from Tucson, and
marks the westernmost battle of the American Civil War.
April 16, 1946: Birthday of Raymond Carlos Nakai Native American flutist of Navajo/Ute
heritage, who lives in Tucson.
April 17-27: Pima County Fair
April 18: Good Friday
April 19: Pima County Master Gardener Spring Plant Sale
April 20: Easter
April 20, 1825: Birthday of Charles Debrille Poston, American explorer, prospector,
author, politician, and civil servant. He is referred to as the "Father of Arizona"; due to his efforts lobbying for creation of the territory. Poston was also Arizona Territory' s first Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives (d. 1902).
April 20, 1920: Grand Canyon National Park was dedicated.
April 22: Earth Day
April 22, 1922: Birthday of Charles Mingus, American jazz bassist (Pithecanthropus Erectus), born in Nogales, Arizona (d. 1979).
April 22, 1981: More than $3.3 million is stolen from the First National Bank of Arizona
in Tucson in the then largest US bank robbery in history.
April 23: Holocaust Remembrance Day
April 23-26 Tucson International Mariachi Festival
April 24, 1880: St. Mary's Hospital in Tucson was opened by the Sisters of St. Joseph.
April 25: National Arbor Day
April 25, 1854: the Gadsden Purchase was ratified and signed by President Franklin
Pierce.
April 28, 1700: construction of the first mission church at San Xavier, about two miles (3
km) from the site of today's Mission, began under the direction of Father Kino.
April 30, 1871: The Camp Grant Massacre of Apaches in Arizona Territory, perpetrated
by white & Mexican adventurers; 144 die.
Horned Lizards
As the weather begins to heat up, our cold-blooded critters begin to make their forays out into the world. Little lizards tend to be the first, darting to the tops and sides of sun drenched walls, and it’s time to start paying attention to where your feet and hands are moving as buzzworms (rattlesnakes) are also starting to appear.
One of my favorite critters that, if you’re lucky, you might see this time of year is the horned lizard, aka horny toad, a fanciful creature that used to be more common in these parts, but is now pretty rare due to the encroachment of civilization into the horned toad habitat.
Despite their appearance, Horned toads are not really toads at all, they’re lizards. There are
seven different species of horned toads that live in the Western part of the United States
Horned toads are slow moving. They depend on their coloring to help disguise them from
danger. They can puff themselves up to make their horns point straight out if an animal tries to eat them. And yes, they can actually shoot blood from their eyes!
Prehistoric Native Americans also enjoyed Horned Toads. Petroglyphs, pottery, and baskets
commonly used Horned Toad themes. Older Navaho people refer to Horned Toads as
“Grandmother” or “Grandfather.” They do appear very old and wise. They have survived in the desert a long time.
Horned Toads are gentle creatures. If you carefully catch one and rub its belly, it may take a
little nap. Horned Toads eat mostly ants, a few other bugs, and some plants.
Consider yourself blessed if you happen to find one.
Here is a little book and song we made about horned toads a while ago.
We hope you enjoy it.
Mad Doc and Cass
https://azhornedtoad.com/