Thanksgiving, with its reliable bounty, its reunions, its hours of perfumed air, is over, and the raking, the planting of bulbs, and the digging of root crops are finished for the year. The freezer and pantry shelves are as full as they are going to be: What we have done, we have done; and what we have left undone, we have left undone. – Jane Kenyon

The Fifth Week of Late Fall

The Moon, Sun and Stars

The Goose Gathering Moon entered its final phase on Nov. 30 at 9:37 a.m., and waxes throughout the first week of December, becoming full at 11:08 p.m. on the 7th. Rising in the afternoon or evening, and setting after midnight, this moon passes overhead in the dark.

Cold fronts that usually arrive around Dec. 3 and 8 will be preceded by a dropping barometer, encouraging activity in fish and game. On Dec. 2, the sun reaches its earliest setting of the year in much of the Lower Midwest, and it continues to set at the same time for 12 days.

Orion is the most obvious of all the star groups, and around him cluster some of the easiest stars to identify. Leading Orion into winter is red Aldebaran, the eye of Taurus. In front of Taurus, the seven sisters of the Pleiades lie almost in the center of the sky. Above the Hunter’s raised arms, Capella is the largest light in Auriga. Above and behind Orion, Castor and Pollux, the brightest stars of Gemini, mark the east. Trailing along in the southeast is Sirius, the giant Dog Star.

Weather Trends

Weather history suggests that the cold waves of Early Winter usually cross the Mississippi River on or about Dec. 2, 8, 15, 20, 25 and 29. Snow or rain often occurs prior to the passage of each major front.

Full moon on Dec. 7 is almost certain to bring in the season of Early Winter with snow and cruel wind. As the moon wanes, however, and moves farther from Earth, it is likely that middle December will be relatively mild, providing traditional “Halcyon Days” for late harvesters. All of that will change with the advent of the new moon on the 23rd and perigee on the 24th, which are likely to complicate travel and bring a white Christmas to the nation’s midsection and the East. On the other hand, the New Year’s cold front should be mild and bring an uneventful beginning to 2023.

Zeitgebers: Events in Nature that Tell the Time of Year

When sunset reaches its earliest time of the year, the brittle leaves of the pear trees fall. This is the time during which the second bloom of forsythia flowers ends, when witch hazel blossoms wither, and the last foliage of the golden beeches, the willows, Osage and oaks comes down.

Even though this is one more week of endings, it is not a week of stasis. Spruces are growing new needles. Caraway and henbit sometimes flower in the sun, and a dandelion or a periwinkle opens in scattered fields and lawns. Fresh chickweed, which sprouted at the end of the summer, is blossoming in warm corners of the woods. Catnip sometimes grows back beside thistle, moneywort, chickweed, wild geranium, leafcup, henbit and yarrow.

Honeysuckle foliage continues to fall, opening the undergrowth for hikers and hunters. If you are bird watching, set out additional feeders for suet and fruit as well as for seeds and grains. Keep track of the types of birds that arrive in your yard. Be ready for late and early migrants.

In the Field and Garden

Try to complete harvest of corn, soybeans and sugar beets before the arrival of Early Winter, which normally storms in with the second December front, bringing the first taste of snow to the Border States and often a major blizzard to the North. Bring in the last squash and pumpkins. Protect the winter collards with dry leaves.

The Christmas tree harvest is well underway, and the last poinsettias have come north. In greenhouses and sunrooms, tomatoes sown in July will be getting ripe as December approaches. Marigolds, zinnias, impatiens and other bedding plants saved from the cold may still be flowering.

Mind and Body

The danger of Seasonal Affective Disorder increases as the winter period of solar stability (Dec. 5 – Jan. 8) begins, keeping the days short and the amount of available sunlight low. Be outdoors as much as possible during the day to maximize exposure to light. The bright fluorescent lights of malls and shopping centers may also be helpful.

Following the Year with the Stars

Early Winter’s stars are more easily found than those of other seasons. These December evenings bring the first of the winter constellations out of the east with the waning moon. Announced by Pisces, the tight cluster of the Pleiades rises with the dark. Taurus with its red eye, Aldebaran, follows close behind. Then sprawling Orion, with its huge Rigel and Betelgeuse, fills the east. The Big Dipper lies along the northern horizon and Pegasus leads Pisces and Aries west.

If you find the Big Dipper at midnight this month, you can keep real time in this new year by watching that constellation move around Polaris, the North Star.

In the middle of December nights, the Dipper lies in the east, its pointers, the outside stars of its “cup,” point due west, and mark the start of the Earth’s fresh cycle. As our planet turns toward spring, the Big Dipper moves out toward the center of the heavens, and its pointers are aligned north-south just when daffodils bloom and the trees start to blossom in April.

Then when the Dipper has moved to the western side of Polaris, and its pointers are lying east-west, summer will have reached its zenith. When the Dipper lies along the northern horizon, pointing due south up at the North Star, the leaves will all be falling from the maples. And as the Dipper comes around east again, it brings a New Year once more.

Almanack Classics

The Ohio Coon Dog Field Trials

By Pete Jones, Lynn, Ind.

My life as a young boy was much different than the lives of most of my friends. Most of them spent Sunday in Sunday School and church. I spent my Sundays working at the Ohio Coon Dog Field Trials.

My dad built an electric generator with a gas engine for power. It would run his sound system in places where there was no electricity available.

My job was to climb trees and help place two large steel speakers in them. I would help string wire from the speakers to the sound systems. Dad could then make announcements about the trials or play music from a recorded player.

The trials were always held in the woods. Men would go about a mile away and drag a sack of coon manure over the ground. They would take the sack up to a tree where a coon would be tied to a lower limb.

The trial would be over when the first dog would tree the coon by looking up at the coon and barking at him. Yes, there was a lot of money bet on the dogs. The first to tree the coon won all the money for his owner.

The last good thing I remember about the Coon Dog Field Trials was our picnic lunch. It consisted of a pork chop sandwich with green onions, a cold six-ounce Coca Cola and custard pie. I cherish these memories.

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEK’S SCKRAMBLER

WOHRT THROW

OREHT THROE

ETO TOE

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REFONKWO FOREKNOW

OH-EHHIG HEIGH-HO

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EOUPLT TUPELO       

THIS WEEK’S RHYMING SCKRAMBLER

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