The scurs are gaining confidence in the Weather Eye with the warmer temps and lack of precipitation. What’s not to like? Will our weather fortunes remain static or are they about to turn to woes? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with highs in the upper 30’s and lows in the upper 20’s. Thursday, mostly cloudy with highs in the mid-30’s and lows in the low 20’s. Mostly sunny on Friday with a slight chance of forenoon rain showers. Highs in the upper 20’s with lows in the low 20’s. Saturday, partly sunny with highs in the upper 20’s and lows in the upper teens. Mostly sunny for Sunday with highs in the mid-20’s and lows in the upper teens. Monday, mostly sunny with highs in the low 30’s and lows in the upper teens. Christmas Day, mostly sunny with some possible snow showers. Highs in the low 30’s with lows in the mid-teens. On the 21st we experience the shortest amount of daylight for the year at eight hours and 54 minutes. By Christmas Day, the daylight period is already getting longer with eight hours and 55 minutes’ worth. The normal high for Christmas Day is 24 degrees and the normal low is 6. The scurs are nearly ready to start thinking about Christmas shopping after celebrating Festivus with feats of strength.
The full moon for the month occurs on the 22nd and is generally called the “Full Cold Moon” or the “Full Long Nights Moon.” As mentioned above we are at the deepest part of the winter in terms of short daylight hours. The Ojibwe knew this as the “Small Spirits Moon” and the Sioux referred to it as the “Moon when Deer shed their Antlers.” At the ranch about the only thing shedding is Ruby the border collie although it could be called the “Tractor Plugged in Inside the Shed Moon.”
We appear to have fallen into some early winter weather doldrums. That’s all right by many of us. Given that there was plenty of snow earlier in December there is a strong likelihood that we’ll see a white Christmas or at very least still be able to see some snow on the ground. Temperatures also appear on track to continue on their warmer than normal trend. I’ve heard no complaints and certainly don’t mind not having to battle sub-zero temperatures and snowdrifts on the trip to the barn twice a day.
The pheasants continue to make themselves known around the ranch. I suspect some of the neighborhood corn finally being harvested may have something to do with that. There was one rooster hunkered down in the plum thicket mid-afternoon on Friday and there have been numerous roosters cackling, something that has been conspicuously absent for several months. It’s nice at least to know there are a few of them around again. There is plenty of ear corn stashed away for them should weather conditions deteriorate.
Ruby doesn’t care. To a border collie the most important thing at the ranch is doing the chores. It ranks just above tire biting along with herding skidsteers and lawnmowers. Since we’re a little past the lawn mowing phase, the skidsteer is the only game in town. Unfortunately for Ruby, Sunday was doggie torment day, as the vacuum cleaner was run off and on for several hours as I dusted, mopped floors, shook the rugs outside, then vacuumed then again after bringing them inside. No, ladies, I do not hire out and if I did you couldn’t afford me!
Anyway, as Sid Hartman used to say when you could still understand him, after grinding through that, it was time to shovel the patio off for future grilling reference. I always get more dog help doing that task than a person should be allowed to have as Ruby launches herself at the shovel and dodges the snow when it’s thrown. When I got the skidsteer out, there was much barking, growling and tire biting as I started the machine up. We moved some of the packed snow off the driveway and shoved the piles back as far as we could. One never knows when Mother Nature may decide to change her mind. After herding the skidsteer, doing the chores and getting something to eat, Ruby wanted us to play ball with her. I hope she starts to slow down someday. She still has no “off” switch.
Vista’s noted Swedish astronomer paid me a visit Monday before heading off to his next scheduled appointment. Someday when I grow up, I hope I can only see people by appointment. We chatted about the evening sky happenings, something we hadn’t done for a while. It’s either been too cloudy or foggy to see much of anything. Venus is back to being the Morning Star. At choretime around 7 a.m., it’s high and very bright in the southeastern sky, still visible when the yard light shuts off. Other planets also visible with the naked eye include little Mercury dropping out of the morning sky on the 21st as the largest planet Jupiter takes its place. In the evening, Mars is in the south-southwestern sky and while not as bright as it was earlier, it still displays the distinctive reddish color, much the same as the noted Swedish astronomer’s hair used to do. There may be snow on the roof but there’s still fire in the furnace.
This December marks the 50th anniversary of the sometimes forgotten yet amazing flight of Apollo 8. Launched on December 21, 1968 it marked many firsts in manned space exploration. It included the first successful manned orbit of the moon, the first ever and now famous photograph by humans of the whole planet Earth rising above the lunar landscape, the highest altitude space flight for a manned mission at 240,000 miles as well as the highest speed ever attained by humans at 24,000 mph.
I was 10 years old when Apollo 8 circled the moon. It was Christmas vacation time and coming in from the barn after chores it was clear and cold. My four-buckle overshoes made scrunching noises as I trudged across the snow. I remember looking up at the chilly crescent moon in wonder, amazed by the accomplishments of those three brave astronauts. They returned safely on December 27 after orbiting the moon 20 times. Fifty years later I’m still trudging across the snow each night after chores looking at the moon in wonder.
See you next week…real good then.