Full Wolf Moon on January 13

The scurs and Weather Eye garnered their first weather hate mail of the year. Will they redeem themselves or are we in for a repeat performance? Starting Thursday, mostly sunny with a slight chance of snow. Highs in the mid-20’s with lows in the upper teens. Mostly cloudy on Friday with highs in the mid-20’s and lows in the low teens. Partly sunny Saturday with highs in the mid-20’s and lows in the upper teens. Sunday, mostly cloudy with a slight chance of snow. Highs in the mid-20’s with lows in the mid-teens. Mostly sunny on Monday with highs in the mid-20’s and lows in the low teens. Tuesday, cloudy with highs in the upper 20’s and lows in the mid-teens. Partly sunny Wednesday with highs in the low 30’s and lows in the upper teens. We continue succeeding in our quest for more daylight. On January 11th, we start gaining daylight at around a minute and a half per day. On the 13th, the sun will set at 5 p.m. CST. The normal high for January 13th is 21 and the normal low is 5 as we enter the threshold of what are statistically the coldest days of the winter. The scurs are keeping an eye out for additional firewood just in case.

The Full Moon for the month comes at us on the 13th. It is commonly known as the Full Wolf Moon as it was common to hear wolves set up shop, howling at night not far from the winter native American encampments. In parts of the Great Lakes region, it was also referred to by the tribes as the Bear Moon, although most of the bears had already been holed up for the winter by the time January rolled around. The Ojibwe knew this as the Great Spirit Moon for the hope provided by the lengthening days. The Sioux called it the Frost in the Teepee Moon or the Moon when Wolves run Together. At the ranch we know it as the Warm Boots and Gloves Moon or after chores are done, the Warm Lap Corgi Moon.

Another dry winter thus far has one guessing what lies ahead for January and beyond. NOAA’s 30-day outlook doesn’t provide anything definitive yet. Released December 31st, it calls for slightly better than even odds of below normal temps and even chances of above or below normal precipitation. Their 90-day outlook is calling for even chances of both above or below normal precipitation and temperatures. No concrete predictions from either time frame. Looking at the Drought Monitor, we’re in an area categorized as “Abnormally Dry.” Doesn’t take a genius to figure that out. However, even though December snowfall was well below normal, we came through with precip falling as rain after Christmas. Our January temps have been running below average thus far. It’ll warm up in February, right? Not necessarily. In 2020, 2021 and 2023, the average daily temperature in February was colder than it was for January. The good news: Only in 2020 did February snowfall exceed January’s measurement.

Getting the holidays out of the way has been an undertaking this year. With Christmas and New Year’s Day both falling in the midweek, it’s been tough to get one’s bearings. Without a weekend on one end of the holiday, it seemed like a new week coming off of it. Both Christmas and New Years seemed like a Sunday to me. The days off were nice, but with a full week of work under our belts, it’ll be nice to finally know what day of the week it actually is. Or at least I think it is. I’ve been adamant about not writing 2024 on any of the checks I’ve written. So far so good, but I was a day ahead on one of the checks I wrote after I got to thinking about it. The date was still a crooked number, so no harm, no foul.

Early season lambing continues at the ranch. We were thinking perhaps we wouldn’t see any more once a few surprises appeared right around the New Year. Wrong. With the ewes unshorn and a large skirt of wool concealing their udders, it’s been nearly impossible to see these blessed events coming. Saturday was no exception as I’d found a ewe with a new lamb in the lambing barn. No sweat. Looked like they’d figured it out, so put a panel across the doorway to keep them in while I went back inside to mix up some milk replacer for a couple others. A natural-colored ewe had been making a fuss outside of the barn with no sign of any discharge, much less a bag. I suspected she was thinking the lamb on the ground inside the barn was hers. Not uncommon. Come back out with milk replacer and the bellering ewe had dumped a lamb out near the hay feeder. It can be a regular three-ring circus some days at the ranch.

Poppy continues to be my companion during lulls in the action. She really doesn’t care much about the birds, even though she helps fill their feeders. The squirrels on the other hand are a major concern. It’s been tough to keep the sliding glass door thawed out this past week where they can be observed from inside the house. A Corgi nose about a foot off the ground has thwarted our attempts at keeping the glass clean. However, if you point the small space heater at the base of the window frame for an hour or so, then it’s game on. I wonder what Poppy will say when we give her the electric bill. She’ll have to get another job.

Ss you next week…real good then.