December, the final month of a year that we all would like to forget, was mild by Maine standards. Below, you see the last of a December day’s sun touching the face of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park. Also below are Patten Stream entering Patten Bay; Blue Hill overlooking Blue Hill Bay, and the Connery Cove boat house in the brief gray-blue light immediately after sundown.
The last of the in-shore lobster traps are pulled up in December for storage. Some of the fishing vessels also are stored for the winter in December, but others are refitted with booms and masts and the crews go out into the cold to dredge for scallops or dive with air tanks for prime “divers’ scallops.”
Snow was of little concern this December. We had only one plowable snow storm that produced more beauty than annoyance.
At night, the Brooklin General Store’s Christmas (or, for some, Holiday) lights have been visible almost all month. The number and types of decorative lights displayed in Brooklin vary from the minimal to the exuberant.
The decorations inside houses also vary from traditional Christian to modern festive . (We should note that the clever foldout/popup Christmas card below was given to us by our good friend and neighbor Sharron Ellis.)
Before Christmas, we spotted one of Santa’s helpers apparently delivering presents on his own. There also was a road banner showing Santa’s love for animals, which seemed to amaze our deer.
One of the highlights near the end of the month was the December full moon, commonly called The Cold Full Moon in recognition of its Native American name. Below, in the first image, we see it about to climb over Acadia National Park a few minutes after it rose above the horizon. The second image shows it entering its high trajectory.
Because of its cold, clear (unpolluted) air, December produces some of the year’s best sunsets. We end this edition of Postcards with one of them:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
(All images here were taken in Down East Maine during December 2020.)