As December begins, so truly does a new year. Even though plenty of remnants hang on in the land around me – a few pear, beech and lilac leaves, some forsythia and Japanese honeysuckle – there is not enough to keep me looking for the past in this present, not enough to keep me from plotting the beginning of another cycle. – Leon Quel

The Moon: The Gourd Moon waned throughout the week, reaching apogee, its position farthest from Earth on Dec. 4. It entered its final quarter at 12:51 a.m. on Dec. 5. On the 12th, it becomes the Mistletoe Moon. Rising in the evening and setting in the morning, this moon passes overhead in the dark.

The Sun: Sunset remains at its earliest time of the entire year through most of the week, but then as December’s second half approaches, sunset actually starts to occur later in the day, a shift which starts the end of winter before it even officially starts.

The Planets: Venus continues as the Morning Star throughout the week.

The Stars: Overhead in the night sky, the constellation Cassiopeia – looking like a very small dipper – lies a little south and west of the North Star in the Milky Way. According to mythology, Cassiopeia was the mother of the Princess Andromeda, and the god Poseidon placed Cassiopeia, her husband Cepheus, along with Andromeda, in the sky as a punishment for their pride.

The Shooting Stars: The Geminid meteors and the Urside meteors will appear later in the month.

Weather Trends: It is probable that new moon on Dec. 7, lunar perigee on Dec. 16, and full moon on Dec. 26 will bring stronger-than-average storms to the United States. Next week’s new moon is likely to bring freezing temperatures and an excellent chance of snow.

The Natural Calendar: Except along the Gulf Coast, nearly every deciduous tree is ordinarily bare. Milkweed pods are open, their disheveled seeds drifting in the wind. Osage fruits are yellowing, broken and scattered by squirrels or opossums. Even though this is one more week of endings, it is not a week of stagnation. Spruces are growing new needles in the parks. Caraway and henbit can be flowering in the sun, and a dandelion or a periwinkle will open in scattered fields and lawns. Fresh chickweed, which sprouted at the end of the summer, is blossoming here and there. Catnip grows back beside thistles, moneywort, chickweed, wild geranium, leafcup, henbit and yarrow. In the woods, whitetail deer enter their secondary rutting period, which lasts approximately two weeks. Crows flock to winter roosts.

In the Field and Garden: Feed trees and bushes after leafdrop is complete. Fertilize the fields after harvest with organic matter, phosphorus and potassium to reduce soil compaction. Prune fruit bearing bushes. Add bone meal to areas in which you have planted bulbs.

Bring in oregano, rosemary, parsley and thyme for winter seasonings. Stake weaker shrubs and trees. Mulch strawberries with straw. Prepare to transport goat and sheep cheese, Christmas cacti, dried flowers and grasses, poinsettias, mistletoe and ginseng to market.

Take care of winter maintenance before full moon (on Dec. 22). The week is also excellent for all livestock maintenance activities, especially worming, vaccinations, crutching and facing ewes, dipping for parasites and trimming feet.

Mind and Body: Early sunset time will be starting your melatonin flow as the sky darkens. If you schedule a balanced snack between 3-4 p.m. and then do some form of exercise before or after dinner, you may be able to reset your physical and mental clocks, and get a second wind. Of course, if you can sneak in a nap after your snack, that’s even better. Best of all, go to bed early!

Journal: Counting the Cold 

Fronts to Spring

One of the easiest ways to get a little control over winter is to count the major cold fronts that reach your house between now and the middle of February (when earliest spring often arrives in the Miami Valley). Here is the system I have developed from the past 35 years of watching. See how many of the fronts you can record on your calendar. If you have a barometer, you can follow them by making graph of ups and downs! Try not to cheat by checking the internet.

Early Winter: This first of the year’s 12 seasons contains six major cold fronts, and it lasts from the first week of December until about 10 days after solstice. Early winter’s nights are the longest of the year, and its cloud cover is the most intense.

Deep Winter: This season also has six significant cold waves, and it lasts from the 1st through the 25th of January. Average temperatures in this season are the lowest of the year. Few visible changes in fauna and flora take place.

Late Winter: This period contains five to six cold fronts and lasts from Jan. 26 through Feb. 18. Average temperatures start to rise throughout the nation now. Sap runs in the maples. By the arrival of early spring in the third week of February, the day is more than an hour longer than it was at solstice.

Almanack Literature

Passing the Test at the Lamb Farm

by Lou Beard

It was the winter of 1943, and World War II, and the United States was still invading Germany. It was also one of the coldest years in history, with temperatures below zero.

The Lamb Ranch was located in the plainlands and mountain range of Roswell, N.M. The ranch was one of the few in the area that raised sheep for the wool.

Living on the ranch with his family was Frank, a young boy of 10 years old. He was expected to work like a grown man on the sheep and lamb ranch. His father was a woold producer and raised some of the finest breeds known in the country.

Franklin and his father did not get along. They were nothing alike. Franklin was like his mother: mild mannered, sensitive, generous and responsible. Franklin’s father was the opposite: hard, cruel and mean-spirited.

The sky was dark that day, and a storm was rolling in. The sheep were grazing up on Pike’s Hill. They would be in danger if the cold air turned into snow or ice. Franklin’s father yelled, “Get on your horse and get them sheep down the mountain and into shelter as fast as you can.”

Franklin did as his father requested, grabbing his rain gear and some bread from the kitchen and immediately rode off toward the mountain. Soon he got to Pike’s Hill but the sheep were all scattered and frightened. The snow had been falling there for hours.

Franklin knew exactly what to do and how to do it. He wanted to be the hero and impress his father more than anything. He knew the choice quality sheep from the others and their lambs, too. He surrounded them and drove them into an old pump shed that was on the mountain top. He could get most of them in.

The sky was black, and the temperature had dropped down even lower. The snow was coming down fast and was at least two-feet deep. Franklin put the horse in after the sheep were in. He knew the only way to survive the night and maybe the next day was to lower himself down with the sheep and snuggle up to them to keep from freezing to death.

All the next day, more snow fell and the temperature dropped even more. The severe wind would not stop and Franklin feared the shed would blow away or cave in on him, killing all the sheep and lambs. He was stuck there with his thoughts and his sheep. It was peaceful without his father yelling at him.

Franklin’s father had no way to reach his son. He did not realizd what a special boy Franklin was until that moment when he knew the danger that his son was in and that he could die out there all alone.

On the third day, the ice started to melt, and the floods began. This made conditions even worse, but somehow Franklin’s father managed to get to the pump house. It was his only hope in finding his son.

He hesitated for a minute and then opened the door.

“Oh, thank God you are alive!”

 Franklin jumped into his father’s arms and hugged him. His father hugged him back. For the first time, they were locked together as father and son.

Franklin’s father said, “Son, I am so proud! You have saved yourself and my sheep and lambs. You are my hero!”

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEK’S SCKRAMBLER

EEUDC DEUCE

OGOES GOOSE

OBCAOES CABOOSE

DDECEU DEDUCE

AOOEPP PAPOOSE

CEDUROPER REPRODUCE

NYHOTEPEUS HYPOTENUSE

USESXE EXCUSE

DUCENI INDUCE

ESZU ZEUS

UIESLC SLUICE

 

THIS WEEK’S RHYMING SCKRAMBLER

RLYBU

YLRUC  

IHSLEYIR

WHRIYL

RDYWO

EAYRL

IIERLG

LURSY

PRLEAY

In order to estimate your SCKRAMBLER IQ, award yourself 15 points for each word unscrambled, adding a 50-point bonus for getting all of them correct. If you find a typo, add another 15 points to your IQ. Yes, you are a genius.

Poor Will’s Almanack for 2024 Is Now Available.

For fastest service before Christmas, order your copy from Amazon.com. Or you can order an autographed copy of the Almanack from www.poorwillsalmanack.com. Or send a check for $25 to Poor Will at P.O. Box 431, Yellow Springs, Ohio 45387.

Copyright 2023 – W. L. Felker