December 2022

Digital painting of a bright pink and purple sunrise over some low mountains, with an antenna on the right-hand side, and a red light on top of it.

December 2nd

We report that the cars' windscreens are thoroughly frozen this morning, and we have put on a few more layers as we step outside. The ground sounds crunchy as we walk on it, and it is not light enough to see very well, but some puddles might have frozen over too.

Digital painting of a dark blue cloudy sky around dusk, with the silhouettes of a few trees in the distance. There are some black birds flying in the sky.

December 1st

We report: first day of December, and we are still here under the same sky as everybody else, still moving forward even though we sometimes have trouble with directions. The birds are all leaving further South, but we have decided to stay, for now, as the sky keeps darkening.

Digital painting of a foggy landscape, a few houses and a lamp post, with some trees in the background. The sky is mostly homogenous but for some darker shapes, and the sun is there, perfectly visible through the fog.

December 4th

We report: it is around midday, and the fog is slowly but surely rolling off the town. We can see just fine in front of us, but on the edges of our field of vision, the world looks smaller and strangely void of colours. The sun will not go much higher over the horizon today.

Digital painting of a bright blue sky with some white and grey clouds of diverse shapes there.

December 3rd

We report, by the sea: tall and frothy waves crashing loudly on the rocky coast, strong winds and high humidity, but for now, also, a bright blue sky. We sit there with the seagulls flying in and out of the water, and the sea seeping in and out of the pebbles.

Digital painting of a starry night sky, dark blue to black, with a faint milky way running across the frame. The stars are many and bright.

December 5th

We report that we stumbled upon the milky way when we were not looking for it; faint at first, and brighter by the second as we keep looking. The street lamps were turned off a bit ago, but we are still adjusting to the darkness. From here it looks like the sky could break open.

Digital painting of a bright blue sky with some curved cirrus on top of it, bright white too with a tinge of yellow at the bottom of the frame.

December 7th

We report, after many days of clouds after storm after fog after clouds again, the blue of the sky has not washed away. We look at it as a revelation today, this pure blue that vibrates through the air - almost purple at its bluest, and we feel a spring in our step for the day.

Digital painting of some almost-black clouds behind which an orange sky can be seen, varying from vibrant to pastel.

December 6th

We report: the clouds were so dark, and as far as we were concerned, we had seen this day's last drops of sunlight. At this moment, the wind picked up and took a few clouds along, revealing glimpses of a stolen sunset amidst the darkness. Soon enough, the gap closed again.

Digital painting of a large grey cloud in a blue sky, lit from behind by the sun. The sun is also projecting sun rays into the blue.

December 11th

We report the sun entrapped, contained in a cloud as we left home and looked up above the roofs. Sheets of sleet fell from the sky today, and the bits of ice on the ground are melting slower than it would if the sun was out. Our expert has skidded across many puddles on our walk.

Digital painting of a dark cloudy grey sky with a blue tinge. The clouds are curly and spread out in complicated shapes.

December 8th

We report: not as cold, this day. The clouds, low and heavy in the sky, are making the sound travel differently, and the rain starts falling, silent at first. Big, slow raindrops crash on our face, and the brisk air comes up in steam around us.

Digital painting of a dark cloudy night sky with a big, mostly full moon that is partially covered by clouds.

December 9th

We report that we had our last full moon of the year last night - not any brighter or bigger than usual, but rather pretty as it came in and out of the clouds. It was too cold for us to sit outside and look at it for very long, but we did it anyway, and now we have a runny nose.

Digital painting of a twilight sky, blue and purple clouds in a dark and desaturated sky.

December 21st

We report: this is the first day of astronomical winter, and it is quietly turning into the longest night of the year. It is early evening, the streets are crowded as people are making their way home, and the sunset goes on and on. Our expert stops on a street corner to greet a dog.

Digital painting of a sunset sky in various pastel shades, mostly clear with a few pink and purple clouds. There is a wide expanse of land with just a few trees on the horizon, and some birds flying high in the sky.

December 10th

We report: today, the sunset seemingly took all afternoon to happen. We looked to the horizon at some point, and saw a whole portion of the sky tinted yellow that remained there for the rest of the day. We are getting close to the winter solstice.

Digital painting of an asperitas sky, eerie, dark wave-like clouds crisscrossing.

December 12th

We report: there was a thunderstorm a little bit earlier today, and we were left with this sky in the aftermath. The silence was eerie for a moment, and then a few birds came out, pecking at some branches and looking for bugs. The sky slowly cleared out as the wind rose.

Digital painting of a sunset sky in grey, orange and yellow tones. The sky is composed of many long clouds that are agglomerated together, stretching higher into the sky. There are also a variety of other clouds present. The light blue sky behind is

December 13th

We report a winter sunset as the colours bled in and out of the clouds; the blue of the sky, first, became lighter with hints of yellow. And the clouds, from grey and white to yellow and orange, and then red and pink too. We watched the sunlight lazily wash over the sky.

Digital painting of a snowy landscape around twilight; the sky is opaque, a grey-blue over a snowy field on the side of a road. In the background, a line of trees, some of them still have leaves and some are bare. On the field, some grass is peeking

December 14th

We report: there is hardly any hope for us to see the Geminids peak, this year, but the snow is more than enough of a consolation. We took a walk in silence. It did not snow for a very long time, and the layer of white was thin everywhere we went. Still, the country was silent.

Digital painting of some white clouds in a bright blue sky. A specific pattern of clouds looks like some fluffy hairs rising up in the sky.

December 15th

We report that every day the sky tries to teach us thermodynamics lessons that, quite frankly, go over our head. We have seen these patterns hundreds of times, though never in this specific configuration. Our expert mentions the term "cirrus vertebratus", and we smile and nod.

Digital painting of a mostly grey sky, with the smallest bit of blue on the right-hand side. There is a superposition of clouds of different shades of grey blending into one another.

December 16th

We report: halfway through December, and we remember what winter is like a little bit more - at the price of forgetting what summer was like a little bit more. We see ourselves in the clouds and their perpetual movement. We look forward to forgetting and remembering some more.

Digital painting of a dark blue starry sky.

December 17th

We report: our expert has made a long trip to come and look at the stars with us tonight. The weather was uncertain for much of the day, quickly alternating from clear skies to rain to snow, even, in the evening. Now, finally, it seems that the conditions are pretty much ideal.

Digital painting of a sunrise sky with pastel colours, a big grey and blue cloud against an orange and pink background of different clouds.

December 18th

We report a freezing night, and a chilly morning now. Even the sky looks cold, blankets over blankets that barely let the dawn through, small embers coming through gaps between the clouds. We take care of putting on extra layers of socks and jumpers and jackets on our way out.

Digital painting of some grey and white blurry clouds in a bright blue sky.

December 19th

We report: just out of a long bout of showers, we wipe the rain from our eyes, yet the clouds still look blurry. They have, we can only assume, dissolved in the absurd quantity of water that the sky has just dropped upon us. We wring out our scarf, now damp and wholly unwearable.

Digital painting of a heavy, dark grey sky, underneath which the distant falling rain is visible against a lighter grey sky.

December 20th

We report noon under a heavy sky; walls of rain encircle us in every direction. No rain where we stand yet, but we know we will encounter it wherever we decide to go next. We stay here for a little while longer, enough to lose track of time before we feel the first raindrops.

Digital painting of a big, bright orange cloud in a blue sky. The sky is a dark blue above the sky, and a much lighter blue underneath.

December 22nd

We report that from here on out, like every year, the days only get longer. We get a sense of this, even though it is only the day after the solstice. We look out to the sunrise, and we think about the tilted axis of our planet, and the sun, and the cold morning breeze.

Digital painting of a blue sky with some thin cirrus in it.

December 23rd

We report cirrus in the wind, up, up where the humidity has soared. Cirrus clouds start up so thin and diaphanous, the light comes through so easily - but they will take over the sky like giant hogweed would a forest. We look back up after a while, and the sky is fully opaque.

Digital painting of a murmuration of black birds in a light grey sky.

December 24th

We report: once again, we find ourselves under a murmuration as we walk past a field. We can hear trills and whistles coming from this massive bird cloud waltzing in the winter sky. We think there might be a few hundred of them, all moving together. We stay there for a long time.

Digital painting of a night scene; sleet falling diagonally in front of a lit lamp post.

December 25th

We report sleet falling for a good portion of the night. We trudge along through the icy sludge that covers most of the ground. We swallow melted snow when we open our mouth to ask directions from our expert. Our expert pulls out a sopping-wet, full-size map from their pocket.

Digital painting of a bright red and purple sky, with small clouds going in every direction. At the bottom of the frame, a thin line of much darker clouds.

December 26th

We report: we are making it through the darker days, we are making it through. We remember though, one bright and scorching summer day when the night would not come, for a moment we yearned for the darkest of winter. It is a fleeting thought in front of this burning red sky.

Digital painting of a fluffy white cloud lit by the sun in a bright blue sky, with long, flat grey clouds in the foreground.

December 27th

We report a day of sunshine. The first time we looked at the sky today, we could not make out any clouds, but even when they appeared, the sun stayed largely unobscured. The few moments when shadows passed in front of it, they faded after just a blink of an eye. Sun in our eyes.

Digital painting of a snowy sky, grey snowflakes in a light grey sky. There are faint mountains in the lower half of the frame, barely visible through the haze.

December 28th

We report, in a different place from the places where we usually go, but that is also not so dissimilar from places where we have gone before, it is snowing. It is windy, and the snowflakes fly by fast. The clouds look thick, but there is a lot of light piercing through them.

Digital painting of a twilight sky, a gradient of pastel orange to dark blue with dark, almost black obscuring half of the sky.

December 29th

We report: time contracts and dilates in imperceptible ways - at least, we do not perceive them. There is a debate about whether time goes by faster or slower as one grows older, but in our opinion, it is both. We feel life go by incredibly fast, but twilight is infinitely slow.

Digital painting of an orange sunset, clouds above clouds. The clouds under are fluffy and grey, and the clouds above are long, orange and yellow. A little bit of the sun is still visible as it dips behind the clouds.

December 30th

We report that we are reaching the end of December, and we look for light wherever we can, still. Above the clouds, maybe, light survives a little bit longer than everywhere else, rich and glowing and it sticks to our skin. We may start parting with this year already.

Digital painting of a blue sky half-covered with wavy, white cirrus.

December 31st

We report: here we are again, having achieved the tally of the many days of this year. We have lived through each of them, sunrises and sunsets - have counted stars, seen migrations start. We have been rained on. We have walked and breathed and blinked. Here is to more of this.

December 2022

January 2023

November 2022