With apologies to T.S. Elliot, this is the way the decade ended for us, not with a bang, but this whimper of aggressive rain and timid snow today:
December here was a month that will be remembered mostly for its miserable rainstorms, gorgeous sunsets, and breath-taking moon rises.
As for the rainstorms, one brought down massive trees that destroyed power lines and roiled Naskeag Harbor, but none of our fishing vessels seemed the worse for it.
But not all was wet and gray. December’s low sunlight more than compensated for the precipitation. The month’s colorful sunset and afterglow dramas defied description:.
December also brought us the last full moon of the decade, and it was a good one – a supermoon that arose big, burly, and bronze over Acadia National Park and sailed away as a silver orb that cast a searching light across our dark waters.
The moon had one final trick up her sleeve when she returned to our view in late December as a new crescent moon: she “held the old moon in her arms,” as the astronomers say. That is, she not only reflected the sun brightly in her crescent, the rest of her turned charcoal-blue in reflected light from earth:
Meanwhile, back here on earth, our woods, fields, and streams were going through a December cycle of sunny brightness, light snow that sugar-coated things awhile, then rain that removed the snow better than any plow. This led to engorged streams that raced wildly through the woods.
The marsh ponds also went through a repeating cycle of freezing and thawing, sometimes with snow-covered ice.
December’s mild-then-cold temperatures contributed to the freeze-snow-rain-thaw cycle, seeming to confuse the red squirrels and white-tailed deer, especially the yearling deer who loved to frolic together at dusk in their first snow — when it was there.
Our old wild apple trees didn’t seem to mind December. In fact, some seemed to brazenly defy it by refusing to let go of their apples and doing line dancing when no one was looking.
While summer houses luxuriated in snow baths, wood sheds and the Brooklin General Store got very good use during the month.
The General Store wasn’t the only place where winter wreathes were hung. Brooklin driveways, houses, and barns displayed a wide variety of wreaths in December (many of which won’t be taken down until winter ends).
Of course, the most important parts of December for many were its religious and cultural celebrations of Christmas and Hanukah, reflected in roadside banners on Naskeag Road.
(All images taken in Brooklin, Maine, during December 2019, except the image of the Hanukkah banner, which was taken last December)