A Loon Looks At The Full Moon
As I was chasing the Full Moon home Saturday night, it reminded me this is the first Full Moon of 2003.
I have spent many nights chasing the moon home, in all sorts of vehicles, from many angles in many states.
I remember first hearing Bob Seeger�s �Turn the Page� on a glorious Full Moon night in rural
Georgia, heading
home after covering a basketball game, with many miles to drive.
It was a
defining, reflective
moment.
Since then, I have always paid
attention to Full Moons.
I remember thinking one summer that Megs was playing a softball tournament on a Full Moon night and, by the next Full Moon, she�d be starting high school and leaving the years of small-town ball behind, entering the relatively competitive level of high school games.
I knew then that some schmuck like me had probably witnessed a summery Full Moon on the Great Plains hundreds of years ago and marveled just the same at its brilliance and ability to inspire thought processes.
A long, long time ago, high priestesses (there were no male priests then) used their knowledge of moons and tides to inspire their legions of followers. Those who believe in astrology (at least three First Ladies, not including the current one have charted their husbands' presidential moves using astrology) use the same charts.
The brightness of Full Moons may help such influence.
By comparison, the sun, as measured in astronomical magnitudes, is -26.7; a Full Moon is -12.6. But that's still the second-brightest natural light in the sky for us. By the way, if you were on the moon during what earthlings see as a New Moon, you'd, of course, see a Full Earth, at 50 times brighter than we see the Full Moon.
I really like years when we have months with two Full Moons. It doesn�t happen again until next June.
This year, we seem to have Full Moons mostly in the middle of the months, which strikes me as odd for some reason.
Here's the dates of our full moons of 2003 with time-honored interpretations:
�The first full moon of the new year, the FULL WOLF MOON (Saturday just past), is so named because inhabitants of the Great Plains would hear the wolfpacks howling as the winter hunt for food continued. I like to think the first moon is one of a hunger for knowledge, which sets up the rest of the year just swell.
�Next up is the FULL HUNGER MOON (February 16): All the beasts are hibernating and the predators � including hunters � come home with nothing. As an alternative, there is always basketball in Indiana. The first Sunday Full Moon of the year.
�FULL WORM MOON (March 18): A Tuesday Full Moon, this is the night earthworms signal the coming spring by coming our of their winter's nap for surface feeding. In rural areas, this is known as the Full Crow Moon because those birds begin their nightly seasonal symphony or the Full Sap Moon (because sap starts flowing then). In fact, you're reading some of it now.
�FULL PINK MOON (April 16): A Wednesday, this is the night when pink buds begin to sprout, as spring comes ever nearer.
�FULL FLOWER MOON (May 15): A Thursday Full Moon, this the night which signals the full blossoming of flowers. It's also the height of the calving season.
�STRAWBERRY MOON (June 14): A romantic signal, fruits are in season and are ripe for the picking on a nice Saturday night.
�FULL BUCK MOON (July 13): It's when deer begin to grow their antlers as they mature. Also known as Full Thunder Moon in the Southwest due to traditional rainstorms. The second Sunday Full Moon of the year and the first one of summer
�FULL RED MOON (August 11): The moon rises through a hot haze. Also known as Green Corn Moon because that crop is ready for harvest. A nice way to end a Monday and a nice thought that every weekday has at least one Full Moon this year.
�HARVEST MOON (September 10): It's time to bring in the crops. As it's the nearest Full Moon to the first day of Autumn, it permits farmers to work past sunset and complete the harvest. A second Wednesday Full Moon
�HUNTER�S MOON (October 10): Deer and other wild game (like editors) are the fattest they'll be. That makes it a lucky night for hunters, balancing that Hunger Moon thing which started the year. A football Friday night, too.
�FULL BEAVER MOON (November 8): It's traditional the end of the trapping season along waterways before they freeze, though the past several seasons have extended into Decembers. A third Saturday Full Moon, making it the most powerful Full Moon night of the year.
�FULL LONG NIGHTS MOON (December 8): Winter is supposedly at its height; for the past several winters. If this is the coldest night of the season, then let the warmup begin for 2004. A second Thursday Full Moon.
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