A Book of the Seasons: December 27

December 27.

More snow in the night.

The damp snow covers the panes,

darkening the room.

December 27, 1853

Summer or winter

the sky is always ready

to answer our moods.

Venus – very bright

now in the early twilight

right after sunset.

December 27, 1851

Hard mountain outline

now wonderfully distinct

dark blue -- very near.

Cloudless horizon

  clear cold and indigo-y.

True winter sunset.

The evening star seen

shining brightly before the

twilight has begun.

December 27, 1853

Not a particle

of ice in Walden to-day.

Paddled across it.

December 27, 1852

Walden is still open

in one place off the east cape

of long southern bay.

December 27, 1856

Walden is almost

entirely skimmed over.

Be frozen to-night.

December 27, 1857

The man of genius

knows what he is aiming at –

nobody else knows.

December 27, 1858

So cold this evening,

so cold our breaths condense and

freeze on the windows.

December 27, 1859

A TRUE WINTER SUNSET
December 27, 2017

Sunset from Fair Haven Hill . This evening there are many clouds in the west into which the sun goes down so that we have our visible or apparent sunset and red evening sky as much as fifteen minutes before the real sunset . You must be early on the hills to witness such a sunset , — by half past four at least . Then all the vales , even to the horizon , are full of a purple vapor , which half veils the distant mountains , and the windows of undiscoverable farmhouses shine like an early candle or a fire . After the sun has gone behind a cloud , there appears to be a gathering of clouds around his setting , and for a few moments his light in the amber sky seems more intense , brighter , and purer than at noonday . I think you never see such a brightness in the noon day heavens as in the western sky sometimes , just before the sun goes down in clouds , like the ecstasy which we [ are ) told sometimes lights up the face of a dying man . That is a serene or evening death , like the end of the day . Then , at last , through all the grossness which has accumulated in the atmosphere of day , is seen a patch of serene sky fairer by contrast with the surrounding dark than midday , and even the gross atmosphere of the day is gilded and made pure as amber by the setting sun , as if the day's sins were forgiven it . The man is blessed who every day is permitted to behold anything so pure and serene as the western sky at sunset , while revolutions vex the world . There is no winter necessarily in the sky , though the snow covers the earth . The sky is always ready to answer to our moods ; we can see summer there or winter . Snow and drifts on the earth ; it swiftly descends from the heavens and leaves them pure . The heavens present , perhaps , pretty much the same aspect summer and winter . It is remarkable that the sun rarely goes down with out a cloud . Venus - I suppose it is - is now the evening star , and very bright she is immediately after sunset in the early twilight . December 27 1851

Venus - I suppose it is - is now the evening star, and very bright she is immediately after sunset in the early twilight. December 27, 1851

It is a true winter sunset, almost cloudless, clear, cold indigo-y along the horizon. The evening star is seen shining brightly, before the twilight has begun. A rosy tint suffuses the eastern horizon. December 27, 1853

The outline of the mountains is wonderfully distinct and hard, and they are a dark blue and very near. December 27, 1853

Grows cold in the evening, so that our breaths condense and freeze on the windows. December 27, 1859

High wind with more snow in the night. The snow is damp and covers the panes, darkening the room. December 27, 1853

A clear, pleasant day. Tree sparrows about the weeds in the yard. December 27, 1857

Not a particle of ice in Walden to-day. Paddled across it. I took my new boat out. A black and white duck on it, Flint's and Fair Haven being frozen up. Ground bare. River open. December 27, 1852

Walden is still open in one place of considerable extent, just off the east cape of long southern bay. December 27, 1856

Goose Pond is not thickly frozen yet. Near the north shore it cracks under the snow as I walk, and in many places water has oozed out and spread over the ice, mixing with the snow and making dark places. Walden is almost entirely skimmed over. It will probably be completely frozen over to-night. December 27, 1857

The snow blowing over the ice is like a vapor rising or curling from a roof. December 27, 1853

I think you never see such a brightness in the noon day heavens as in the western sky sometimes, just before the sun goes down in clouds, like the ecstasy which we are told sometimes lights up the face of a dying man. That is a serene or evening death, like the end of the day  . . . The man is blessed who every day is permitted to behold anything so pure and serene as the western sky at sunset, while revolutions vex the world. . . .The sky is always ready to answer to our moods. December 27, 1851  

The crows come nearer to the houses, alight on trees by the roadside, apparently being put to it for 

The evening star is seen shining brightly, before the twilight has begun. December 27, 1853

*****

A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau
"A book, each page written in its own season,
out-of-doors, in its own locality.”

~edited, assembled and rewritten by zphx © 2009-2016