Time to heat water for livestock
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.
Daybook
THE FINALWEEKOF LATE FALL
Astronomical Data and Lore
The aging Manger Moon (the moon under which livestock owners often begin to increase feeding of hay and supplements) wanes throughout the week, entering its final quarter on December 7 at 7:27 p.m. Rising at night and setting in the afternoon, this moon passes overhead in the morning, encouraging creatures to be more active at that time (especially as the cold fronts of December 8 and 15 approach).
Tidal lunar influences have been shown to be greater at full moon and new moon times. You might expect more trouble with your children, parents, flock and herd, therefore, on or about December 14 and 29.
The moon exerts less influence on ocean tides and on human and animal behavior when it comes into its 2nd and 4th quarters. Therefore, it might make more sense to shop and then take care of your your animals, family and other friends on or about December 7 and 21.
Since most heart attacks occur during Early Winter, be especially careful of strenuous activities throughout the month.
Weather Trends
The December 8-10 cold front, the first of Early Winter, ordinarily initiates the sixteen-week period during which the most snow falls in the Midwest. The waning moon is likely to soften the effects of the early December weather systems, but as next week’s new moon and luanr perigee approach, the chances of snow and cold increase significantly.
Notes on the Progress of the Year
The Season of Earliest Sunset Time starts on December 2 and continues through the 13th, after which the sun slowly starts to set later. The Season of Heightened Seasonal Affective Disorders starts on December 3, peaks on January 3 and then gradually declines through February 19.
Between December 5 and January 8, the Season of Solstice (or the Season of Sunstop), the time during which the sun holds within a degree of 23 degrees and 26 minutes (its solstice position), produces a period of solar stability similar to the one between June 5 and July 8.
The Season during which 70-Degree High Temperatures are most unlikely occurs between December 6 and January 21. The Season of the Possibility of Below-zero Low Temperatures also starts on the December 6 and goes through March 1.
Woodchuck and Bat Hibernating Season is underway throughout Southwestern Ohio. Redpoll Season arrives in the Northeast, and Mistletoe Gathering Season and Brown Pelican Nesting Season commence along the Gulf of Mexico.
In most years, this week brings to a close the Season of Second Spring, the Season of Late Autumn Crocus Bloom, the Poinsettia Shipment Season, the Season of Bittersweet Berry Shedding, the Corn and Soybean Harvest Season. Leafdrop Season is complete for most deciduous trees. In the garden, Strawberry Mulching Season complements Herb Transplanting Season, the time to transfer of oregano, rosemary, parsley, thyme and sage to indoor pots.
In the Field and Garden
Call in final bedding plant seed orders for delivery before new moon on December 14. Or plan further ahead to start your flowers under the new Snow Flea Moon, January 13.
Mulched parsley, carrots, beets, potatoes, chard, broccoli, kale, chives can still be brought in from the vegetable garden.
Growth of winter wheat slows in the cold. Some fields yellow from low nitrogen levels. The Christmas tree harvest is still in progress, and Christmas cacti often have reached full bloom.
It’s time to plug in the electric bucket heaters and try to keep the water near 50 degrees for your livestock. Small fish ponds and water features may also benefit from heaters.
Maintain good ventilation in the barn for all your animals, and watch for stress from overcrowding. Keep on the lookout for pneumonia. Plant daffodils, tulips and other spring bulbs for forcing after you have chilled them for about thirteen weeks.
Journal
Along the river in the afternoon, sun in and out between gray-blue clouds: One duck on the water, two kingfishers chasing back and forth, sparrows chattering, milkweed pods half open, their disheveled seeds hanging in the wind, Osage fruits yellowing, broken and scattered by squirrels or opossums, parsnips burned from frost, goldenrod and asters in tufts, heads of the ironweed still intact, pale and soft, craneflies swarming, woodpeckers rattling on the far side of the field.
At the swamp, skunk cabbage is six inches high. No trace of the long patches of lizard’s tail that bloomed along the banks in July. Sweet Cicely seedpods: sharp black crescents. Bearded thistles sagging, teasel strong and stiff, angelica breaking apart, hollow leaning wingstem with its leaves bent tight around its stalks, asters coming undone. Leafcup burned by the cold, dock, garlic mustard and dame’s rocket limp, collapsed. Buds of the maples prominent, seed wings still hanging from the box elders.
Pale champagnes of the field grass and goldenrod, russets of the Japanese knotweed, red honeysuckle berries and red rose hips (and two new rose leaves pushing out), oak bark black and shining from the morning’s rain, white sycamores, purple raspberry stalks, all reflected in the low river so still that it takes each object and color without distortion, holding them together among charcoal branches and the alternate bright and dull waves of sky.
“PoorWill’sAlmanack for 2021”is nowavailable. This year’sAlmanack contains detailed descriptions of all 48 seasons of the yearand 30 Almanack Literature stories byAlmanack readers. Order fromAmazon or purchase an autographed copyby sending a check for$20 toPoor Will, Box 431, YellowSprings, Ohio 45387.