Last night my husband and I were sitting in the living room watching TV, when we noticed a stunning sliver of light coming in from the sliding door and casting a gentle glow on the tile floor – nature’s nightlight was in full bloom. I got up and walked over to the door and looked out. The full moon was large and rising over the eastern mountain range. It would soon appear to get smaller as it rose, so we both took a moment to marvel at its beauty and awesomeness. I know there are some people who find a full moon eerie, but on the contrary I find it and the glow it casts gorgeous and even comforting. Occurring once a month, nature’s nightlight always amazes me. Something I once never gave much thought to, I now welcome, like an old friend.
Now there are negative stories of the moon’s effect on people and animals, and likewise there are positive stories as well. You might even hear a bit of folklore including everything from migratory patterns of animals, to lunacy and birthing rates. There is also folklore regarding a crescent moon: seen over the right shoulder it is lucky, but the opposite is true if seen over the left shoulder.
Following are some fun facts about the moon that you can save for your next Jeopardy appearance. (I’m just going to give you some of the English names for each of these moons. The Native Americans had other names for some and there are other variations for all.)
January – Old Moon
February – Wolf Moon (when wolf packs howled because they were hungry)
March – Lenten Moon
April – Egg Moon
May – Milk Moon
June – Flower Moon (because in most areas flowers are abundant now)
July – Hay Moon
August – Grain Moon
September – Fruit Moon (time to harvest the fruit)
October – Harvest Moon
November – Hunter’s Moon
December – Oak Moon
What about the Blue Moon you ask? Well there is quite a bit of misinformation about a blue moon, but the version that appears correct states that a blue moon occurs an average of every 2.7 years. We usually have 12 full moons per year, but every once in a while there is an extra moon, which we call the Blue Moon. This occurs because the solar calendar differs from our own.
And now that you have all of this loony information (yes, pun intended), go ahead and dazzle your trivia buff friends at your next party!
Thank you for sharing! Great post and so interesting.
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