Dec. 5-11, 2011 When woods are bare and birds are flown, And frosts and shortening days portend The aged year is near his end … -William Cullen Bryant
Lunar phase and lore
The Sandhill Crane Migration Moon brings the last of the sandhill cranes south this week and becomes completely full on Dec. 10 at 9:36 a.m. Rising in the afternoon and setting in the morning, this moon will lie overhead in the middle of the night.
The only lunar eclipse of 2011 visible in North America will occur at moonset, near dawn, on Dec. 10. This eclipse will be just a partial one, so watch the edge of the round full moon as it sinks into the west. Fishing and hunting should be most successful when the moon is beneath the Earth around noon, especially as the Dec. 8 and 15 cold fronts approach.
Expect seasonal affective disorders to spike under the full of the moon, but plan on more benign lunar conditions in two weeks. Put in bedding plants under Cancer on Dec. 11-12.
On Dec. 13-14 after midnight, the Geminid meteors fall through Gemini (just to the east of Orion). It is likely that the moon will cause you problems as you try to locate meteors this month. If you are patient, however, and search the eastern sky once Orion has moved into the west, you should find your Geminids. Weather patterns
This week of the year brings the second major cold front of the month, between Dec. 8-10, and the third major high-pressure system between Dec. 11-13. Completely overcast skies dominate 60 percent of the days, and precipitation should be expected as the cold waves approach.
Afternoon highs are usually in the 20s or 30s (a 55-65 percent chance for temperatures so cold). Although full moon typically draws in cold northern air, Dec. 10 and 12 are, historically speaking, the days with the best chance for warmth in the 40s or 50s (slightly better than a 30 percent chance for that).
Severe weather with below-zero temperatures and highs only in the teens is rare; Dec. 14 is the only day when such things might occur. Zeitgebers for this week include the increasing numbers of red-tailed hawks and sparrow hawks on the high wires, the season of blooming orchids indoors, the budding of greenhouse mother-of-millions plants. Ducks and gulls, and the last of the sandhill cranes leave the lower Midwest.
Daybook
Dec. 5: In the warm spells between high-pressure systems, watch for spoiled silage – a source of sick livestock in late autumn and early winter.
Dec. 6: South-window tomatoes sown in August could be ripening as December arrives. Marigolds, zinnias, impatiens and other bedding plants saved from a hard freeze will still be in flower. The first buds will have formed on mother-of-millions.
The greenhouse hibiscus will bloom, opening before dawn, fading and falling by three in the afternoon. Poinsettias, placed in the dark about 17 hours a day through late fall, should be turning red. Dec. 7: The coming week is a pivotal period during which the night lengthens by only three minutes along the 40th Parallel. This is the first time the day has shortened so slowly since the middle of July, the first sign of the breakdown of winter – even before it begins. Dec. 8: Early winter, a three-week season that puts a definite end to the floral year, typically starts today and lasts until even colder conditions move in around New Year’s Day. Full moon on Dec. 10 is likely to intensify the cold front that ushers in this first of the three wintry seasons (early winter, Dec. 8-31; deep winter, Jan. 1-26; and late winter, Jan. 27-Feb. 18).
Dec. 9: Early winter is the time during which the last of the deciduous trees lose their leaves and the last of the wildflowers either die back or become dormant. In the South, the arrival of this season may be delayed until the very end of the calendar year. Dec. 10: The moon is full today, increasing the odds for severe weather. Remember to keep the water for your pregnant animals between 50-60 degrees. You want to have as much water as they’ll drink, and they’ll be thirstier as the young grow.
Dec. 11: Brown-barked river birches and white birches contrast with the black trunks of oaks and elms. Red-twigged dogwoods stand out against the snow. Forsythia leaves are gone now, but the Japanese honeysuckle remain, darkened by frost. Violet coralberries, orange bittersweet berries, red honeysuckle berries and blue privet berries add color to the pae undergrowth. New curly dock is often growing back in the wetlands; the freshest spears can be picked and used for salad greens, or sautéed with onions and maybe a small piece of bacon.
The 2012 Poor Will’s Almanack has 300 pages of stories, essays, notes on farming and gardening, weather predictions, seasonal notes and Scrambler puzzles every month that pay $10 to the winners. Send $20 for your autographed copy to: Poor Will, P.O. Box 431, Yellow Springs, Ohio 45387. Add $3 for Priority Mail (2- to 3-day shipping). Or, order on line at www.poorwillsalmanack.com |
