There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace. To avoid the first danger, one should plant a garden, preferably where there is no grocer to confuse the issue. To avoid the second, he should lay a split of good oak on the andirons... and let it warm his shins.... – Aldo Leopold

The Moon: The Gourd Moon became the Mistletoe Moon at 12:41 a.m on Dec. 12. Rising in the morning and setting in the afternoon or evening, this moon passes overhead in the middle of the day.

The Sun: By the end of the week, the day’s length reaches its shortest span of the year. It will remain at that length through Christmas, after which it will start to grow at the rate of one minute every three days.

The Planets: Jupiter in Aries, lies in overhead after dark, setting well before sunup.

The Stars: By midnight, the Pleiades and Taurus will be almost directly overhead, Orion will be fully visible behind them. Regulus, the brightest star of spring, will be just starting to rise along the eastern tree line.

The Shooting Stars: The Geminid meteor shower peaked on Dec. 13-14 near Gemini (which follows Orion), with the crescent moon interfering only a little with meteor viewing.

Weather Trends: The third week of December typically brings in a strong high-pressure system between the 15th and the 17th, and the coldest December days, those with better than a 35 percent chance for temperatures in the 20s or below. Lunar perigee on the 16th increases the chances of very cold and turbulent weather.

The Natural Calendar: Brown-barked river birches and white birches contrast with the black trunks of oaks and elms. Red-twigged dogwoods stand out against the snow. In the Southeast, mistletoe becomes visible as the high trees lose all their leaves. In southern Florida, mango trees are in full bloom and will produce fruit for harvest in late June through August. Ruby red grapefruits are ready to eat in the groves north of Miami.

Deer mating time comes to a close, decreasing the likelihood that erratic deer behavior will cause automobile accidents. Ducks complete migration from Northern waters. The gull migration, the last major bird migration activity, comes to a close. Forecasting newlife, brown Pelicans nest in Louisiana.

In the Field and Garden: Pruning Season gets underway as average highs drop into the 30s. Take out suckers, dead and crossing branches. Cut fruit trees down to the right level for picking. Continue to sow bedding plants under the waxing moon for earliest spring sales. If you are still transplanting out of doors, be sure to water deeply before the ground freezes. Order legume seed for winter pastures. Schedule your frost seeding for January and February. Fertilize pastures now for improved winter hardiness and spring development.

Mind and Body: If you are taking exams this week, remember that the times between 9-11 a.m. have been shown to be some of the best times for studying and learning. If you can take your tests in the early to mid-afternoon, that period will provide you with some of your best long-term memory for answering questions.

And if you are nearing retirement age, all that test taking can keep you sharp and maybe even lead to a new career. After all, with today’s medical technology, your chances of reaching 90 are better than ever in the history of the world. What are you going to do with all those years?

Journal

Late in the second week December, December 14-15, the Geminid meteors arrive out of the northern heavens near Castor and Pollux, the twins of Gemini, to the upper left of giant Orion. Several days after the Geminids, the Ursid Meteors fly out from the Little Dipper, a small constellation just to the east of the North Star.

Most folk stories about shooting stars complement the notion of a “Thin Time” at the transition between late autumn and early winter, a time during which the barriers become more fragile between those living on this side of death and those on the other side. Such a spiritual aura around the meteoric prelude to winter solstice offers a secular mystique to the season of darkness, easily blending with religious liturgies that enhance awareness of the advent of the natural year.

Meteoric events were thought to be almost supernatural, breaking the pattern of the fixed or “permanent” stars of the night. Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, and Christian Christmas with its star of wonder dovetail easily with the appearance of December’s meteors. They follow the shooting starlight with hopeful and celebratory ceremonies which humans often use to face the cold and gloom of the months past solstice.

vAlmanack Classics

Dirty Work

by William Eklor

A farmer was returning to the house from the barn one summer afternoon when he heard his two small children, a girl of about six, and a boy of four, arguing. The two were fussing quite loudly over some small thing when suddenly the little girl called her brother a pig, pushed him to the ground, and then spit on him.

The farmer rushed over, grabbed his daughter under one arm, picked up his son, wiped him off, quieted his tears, and then sent him into the house.

As soon as the boy was gone, the farmer sat his daughter on his knee and told her very seriously that the devil must have made her do it, and that as the devil was always looking for an opportunity, she should always be careful never to give the devil an opening to practice his dirty work.

The little girl thought for a minute, and then said: “Well, maybe the devil did make me call my brother a name, and maybe the devil did make me push him down into the dirt.

“But,” she added, “spitting on my brother was my own idea!”

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEK’S SCKRAMBLER

RLYBU BURLY

YLRUC CURLY 

IHSLEYIR SHIRLEY

WHRIYL WHIRLY

RDYWO WORDY

EAYRL EARLY

IIERLG GIRLIE

LURSY SURLY

PRLEAY PEARLY

THIS WEEK’S RHYMING SCKRAMBLER

HIMW

RIBM

WMSI

IDM

MTIR

IMRP

YMG

IMH

MYNH

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.

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Copyright 2023 – W. L. Felker