Salute December
December is a month dominated by the Christmas season, but it does have a few other facets worth noting.
It contains the shortest day of the year and when we’ve passed that our daily quota of natural light increases so we can gradually ease off on using the light for which we’re billed.
The reason we get a short day is that the path of the sun has gone the greatest distance south of the equator, warming up grainfields in Australia and Argentina.
Read Also
Topsy-turvy precipitation this year challenges crop predictions
Rainfall can vary dramatically over a short distance. Precipitation maps can’t catch all the deviations, but they do provide a broad perspective.
The Decem part of the month’s name means 10 in Latin (the old Roman calendar only had 10 months). In beauty-contest slang a 10 is the shapeliest, so give a whistle for December.
December has always been a month for celebration. The feast of Saturnalia in ancient Rome lasted a week and was a time for goodwill. Masters waited on their slaves as part of the week.
In North America the Algonquin Indians had a December festival they called Cohonk – after all those Canada geese passing by on their way south. There is also the long-standing Jewish tradition of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights.
In the Christian tradition the birth of Christ is observed Dec. 25 and since the ancients were having so much fun with their December festivals some of the same modes of celebration were adopted by the Christians – gift-giving, feasting, sharing with the poor and an atmosphere of goodwill.
When we contemplate man’s inhumanity to man in trouble spots around the world, it seems appropriate we should this December give thanks for the harvest, share with those in need, and seek peace.
