Dec. 1-7, 2014

The Sandhill Crane Migration Moon waxes throughout the first week of the month and becomes completely full on Dec. 6 at 7:27 a.m. Rising in the late afternoon and setting before dawn, this moon passes overhead throughout the night.

Although lunar influence on animals, people and fish is said to be greatest with the moon above them, a second period of heightened influence usually occurs 12 hours later. After full moon, prepare seeds, soil and containers for bedding plants when the moon is dark in Capricorn and Pisces between Dec. 21-28.

Weather trends

Average high temperatures fall from the middle 40s on the first of the month down to the middle 30s on Dec. 31. Typical lows move from the upper 20s to the lower 20s. Most Decembers bring 1-2 days above 60, and four days in the 50s, those temperatures frequently recorded before the arrival of early winter (around Dec. 8).

The remaining afternoons reach into the 40s an average of seven times, into the 30s about 13 times, finding the 20s three times and often stay in the teens or lower on three occasions.

The natural calendar

Dec. 1: Bluebirds make their final passage through the Ohio Valley.

Dec. 2: Venus reappears as the evening star on Dec. 5, low in the southwest in Sagittarius. Mars continues as a less obvious evening star, moving retrograde once again and visible in Capricorn after sundown.

Still in Leo, Jupiter rises after midnight, moving into the western half of the sky by sunrise. After disappearing in mid-November, Saturn reappears in the morning in late December in Libra, low in the southeast before sunup.

Dec. 3: The pre-dawn sky of December is the evening sky of April: Orion setting, Leo overhead, Puppis and Pyxis in the southwest, Hercules rising in the east, Cygnus in the northeast, Libra in the southeast, the Milky Way along the north-ern horizon, Centaurus, Corvus, Crater and Sextans along the southern tree line.

Dec. 4: Most all the seeds are gone from milkweed pods; just a few wisps of down cling to their shells. Fragile pokeweed stems have exploded in the frost. Yellow witch hazel flowers are shriveling.

Privets are bare, their blue berries revealed. Euonymus fruits are losing their white outer shells, orange cores unveiled by the cold.

Dec. 5: Solar declination is 22 degrees, 22 minutes today, just 1 degree from its declination at winter solstice. The sun’s position remains within a degree of solstice until Jan. 8, producing a period of solar stability similar to the one between June 4-July 8.

Dec. 6: This is the last day for the chance of temperatures above 70 until Jan. 21. Below-zero lows now remain a possibility until March l.

Dec. 7: The coming week is a pivotal period during which the night lengthens by only 3 minutes along the 40th Parallel. This is the first time the day has shortened so slowly since the middle of July, the one of the first signs of the breakdown of winter – even before it begins.

In field and garden

Dec. 1: Fish, game, livestock and people tend to feed more and are more active as the barometer is falling 1-3 days before the weather systems that arrive near Dec. 2, 8, 15, 20, 25 and 29.

Dec. 2: Try to save your best-quality feed supplies for the colder months, the months closest to late winter and early spring birthing time. Use lower-grade feed early in December, gradually increasing nutrient value and quantity throughout the winter.

Dec. 3: The Christmas tree harvest is at its peak, and the last poinsettias have come north.

Dec. 4: Just as much fun as forcing bulbs and making your own seeds is forcing rhubarb. Once the roots have been frozen, bring the plant indoors, and put it in a dark place. Cut the stalks as they appear.

Dec. 5: Watch for mold in feed; be sure the grain and hay are dry and sweet.

Dec. 6: In spite of December’s bad weather, a typical final month brings about seven relatively mild and dry days for more enjoyable outdoor work. Expect such times to occur on the second and third days after a cold front has passed through. Past the third day, however, the chances for precipitation increase dramatically.

Dec. 7: Prune trees and shrubs before the moon turns new, the lunar pivot for fresh growth to begin.

Beginning of the natural year

The old year of sprouting, growing and producing fruit has fallen away with the leaves and the end of harvest, and the first week of early winter marks the beginning of a new cycle in Earth’s spin around the sun.

Seasons are fluid constructs which take their own direction from multiple factors. Winter no more actually starts at December solstice than summer starts at June solstice. The low sun stimulates growth in vegetation even in the cold, and it gradually transforms the behavior of birds, mammals and amphibians.

The “natural year” recognizes that process and gives it a shape closer to what actually occurs around us.

Even though pear trees sometimes hold out and a few honeysuckles and some privets keep their foliage, the buds of next spring are already showing, and the skunk cabbage of February and pussy willow catkins of March are poised to expand in each thaw to come.

Almanac literature

Great American Story Contest entry

Help! Help! Help!

By Ethel Cotton

Creston, Ohio

In my role as a grandma, I said yes to my grandson when he asked me to care for his goat while he was in Kansas for a FFA convention. This goat needed to be milked and cared for during his absence of seven days. So, I couldn’t really say no to him!

Our own dairy herd needed to be milked before 6 a.m. each day, but this new goat protested when she could no longer see me going through the milking and feeding chores. So I had the idea of tying that goat to an apple tree near the milkhouse-stable area so she wouldn’t wake everyone in our neighborhood up so early with her bleats.

Bad idea. She had a cry that everyone in our area heard. It was like the word “Help! Help! Help!” I never thought about how on a quiet, clear dawn kind of day one goat’s voice could stretch so far.

The barn’s phone was ringing, but I was far from that area, running silage for our dairy herd. Next thing I knew, here came headlights up our lane to the barn and silo area where I had lights on while feeding the cattle. Then, another set of lights came fast to the feeding bunker and silo.

They all had heard that silly goat out in front of the barn crying “Help!” and the neighbors thought I was injured or something, since they knew I was alone doing chores some days. Of course, we all had a good laugh over that when they found out the goat was the reason for those “Help!” cries.

After that, the goat went with me to feed the cattle. But even then, one day a man was travelling down our road and heard that goat doing her “Help!” cry, so he backed up to our lane to check on the frantic voice. That goat lived many more years and never changed her cry from three “Helps.”

And I never cared for her after that adventure. She was one spoiled pet!