December 25, 2021: Winter Solstice, Cold Moon

Merry Christmas!

Posting earlier than usual in order to send Christmas greetings to all! 

We have now passed the winter solstice and thus, spring is on the way!  Well, that may be a bit of optimistic thinking, but at least the days are now getting longer.  This year the solstice found me once again at the top of Red Hill in Moultonborough, one of my favorite quick hikes with a great view, though I will warn you if you head in that direction, access to the fire tower is closed for the winter.  But you can still enjoy that bright blue New Hampshire winter sky.

The Red Hill fire tower on a blue sky day.

There is no view to the north without climbing the tower, and with the sun at the lowest rise the sky - not even 23 degrees above the horizon at high noon on the solstice - there is a lot of glare looking south even on a clear day.

This was taken at noon, just an hour after the solstice.

On December 18th, three days before the solstice, the December full moon arrived; I was able to catch it just 32 hours later during a beautiful pink sunrise on December 20th.

The December moon is called the Cold Moon according to the Old Farmer's Almanac, though the native peoples of North America, whom lived here for at least 12,000 years before Europeans arrived, had first given it other names according to their heritage.  

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The snow that fell last weekend was enough to allow for some great winter activities through mid-winter scenes.  I took a ski over at Page Pond in Meredith on the multi-use trail and around the fields at Barnard Ridge Road.

Crossing Bickford Brook on the multi-use trail.

The Belknap Range from the top of the upper Page Pond field.

Unfortunately we later had a little sleet and mixed precipitation which put a slushy, icy end to the skiing, but when the sun came out afterwards there were some pretty sights to be had.

Sun glistens through the ice coating the trees.

The slush didn't stop the animals from going out - the trails and the lake are covered with frozen otter and fox tracks.  

Animal tracks wind all over the lake.

The animals don't mind walking in the slush.  These frozen tracks will be here a while.

I took my own first steps out on the lake on Thursday and was surprised to find six inches of ice, four inches of solid black ice under an inch or two of that frozen slush.  Yesterday, after a night of 10 degree temperatures thickened it further we were able to get some skating in after all before today's snow ended that.  

But now, skiing and snowshoeing are back on the agenda!

As the days get imperceptibly long over the coming days, the moon will head in other direction.  By the morning of the equinox it was already showing a shaded edge. 

Our daughter has a few words of wisdom posted in her kitchen, courtesy of the moon: 

            Advice from the Moon:

                    Live life to the fullest
                    Be someone to look up to
                    Don't be phased by difficulties
                    Take time to reflect
                    Light up the night!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!