Dec. 7-13, 2009

Then for the teeming, quietest, happiest days of all!
The brooding and blissful halcyon days!
-Walt Whitman

The astronomical outlook

The Sandhill Crane Migration Moon, entering its final quarter on Dec. 8 at 7:13 p.m., wanes throughout the period, becoming the new Tufted Titmouse Moon at 7:02 a.m. on Dec. 16. This new moon will become full on the last day of 2009 and will encourage the first new birdsong of the year from the tufted titmouse.
December’s shooting stars are the Geminids, appearing at the rate of about 40-50 per hour on Dec. 13-14. Find them following behind Orion in Gemini.

December dawn is April in the evening sky: Orion setting, Leo overhead, Pupppis and Pyxis in the southwest, Hercules rising in the east, Cygnus in the northeast, Libra in the southeast, the Milky Way along the northern horizon, Centaurus, Corvus, Crater and Sextans along the southern tree line.

 The night lengthens by only three minutes in the next seven days, the first time the day has shortened so slowly since the middle of July. And Dec. 14 is the sunset pivot day for spring: Beginning that evening, the sun goes down one minute later for the first time since July 2.

Winter has just arrived, but spring is already on the way.

The weather

By the middle of December, a subtle change has begun to occur in weather statistics. Although in northern counties of Ohio and Indiana, the average temperatures continue to drop at the rate of three degrees every seven days, in southern counties, the rate has started to slow to two degrees every week.

Within a month, averages will show no variation at all anywhere in the Midwest – a sign that soon they will be rising again.
The first of early winter’s 16 cold fronts almost always arrives within a day or so of Dec. 8. This is a front that generally brings a hard freeze and, often, a covering of snow. Although temperatures can warm considerably after the passage of this weather system (Dec. 10 and 12 can bring afternoon highs into the 40s or 50s), don’t be fooled. The second front, due on Dec. 15, can be one of the most severe of the whole season.

Almanac daybook

Dec. 7: In the dark afternoons in December, orchids are in their prime. Under lights, in a greenhouse or in a south window, most varieties bloom before Christmas. Outside on the fences and high wires, sparrow hawks appear, watching for prey below.

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. December’s second major cold front is due to cross the Mississippi today. Since the moon is entering its second quarter as the front forms, however, weather conditions may be milder than normal.

Dec. 9: Keep up weight and daily milking records for your herd and flock. An unexpected decline in either weight or milk production is often related to problems with feed or health. Since winter generally brings the highest prices for goat’s milk, there is extra incentive to watch your production records.

If you don’t have goats, a daily weight record for you and your family is an excellent reminder to be moderate during the holidays ahead.

Dec. 10: All the orange winterberry berries have emerged from their white hulls, adding one more marker for the arrival of early winter.
Dec. 11: When the yellow leaves of the New England aster fall, then the pear leaves and the beech leaves (the last holdouts of the canopy) will soon be falling, too. Those events let you know that mangoes are in full bloom throughout southern Florida and that Florida grapefruit will soon be ripe.

Dec. 12: Order legume seed for pastures. Schedule your frost seeding for January and February. Send in your first flower and vegetable orders from the earliest seed catalogs.

Dec. 13: Tomorrow, the Halcyon Days begin, a traditional two-week period of calm before the turbulence of winter. According to Greek legend, the halcyon (kingfisher) built its nest on the surface of the ocean and laid its eggs late in the fall. In order to ensure the brood would emerge safely, the bird calmed winds for a week before and after winter solstice.

Mind and body clock

Readings on the S.A.D. Index (which measures on a scale of 1-75 the forces which can contribute to seasonal affective disorders) rise slowly throughout the period, reaching a dangerous 70 by Dec. 17.
The reasons for the increase in the likelihood of seasonal depression or irritability include the peak of average cloud cover for the year (and the peak lasts through the middle of February), the longest nights of the year (which remain long through the winter) and growing odds for cold and snowy weather.

Fish, game, livestock and diet

Hunt and fish with the moon overhead in the middle of the day this week. Take off work prior to the arrival of the second front of early winter around Dec. 15 for the best results of all. After the passage of that cold wave, game and fish will tend to be less active for 12-36 hours.

Then, as the barometer begins to fall in advance of Dec. 20, activity should pick up again. Dieters should have a light morning snack this week in order to head off inordinate lunchtime feeding.

Almanac literature
The Ohio Coon Dog Field Trials
By Pete Jones
Lynn, Ind.

Like memories of outhouses and one-room schoolhouses, memories of “coon dog field trials” are slowly passing from the American scene. Pete Jones, however, helps keep those trials alive a little longer.

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.

The Almanack will pay $3 for any original, unusual animal or family story. Send your tale to: Poor Will, P.O. Box 431, Yellow Springs, OH 45387.