The March full moon has several names, the most common in the Worm Moon, when earthworm casings beging to appear on the ground. It is also called the Lenten Moon. Other names include the Crow, Crust, or Sap moon, referning to the return of Crows, the crust of snow from freezing and melting as the days warm, or the flow of sap in trees.
Category Archives: Almanac
Snow Moon February 9
The February full moon is the Snow Moon, although in some stories, it is called the Hunger Moon because of the challenges of finding food in the harsher winter climates.
January 10 Full Moon – Wolf Moon
According to folklore, the Janaury moon gets its name from the month whe wolves howled outside of villages in hunger during January’s cold lean hunting season.
Day 366
Because of leap year, today, December 31, 2008, is the 366th day of the year. What a great time to reflect on the wonders and dream for the future.
Winter Solstice – longer days
The Winter solstice is marked this year on December 21. From this day forward (until June) the length of daylight grows longer each day. The US Naval Observatory reports Two Mile Ranch will have slightly longer days. Sunrise will actually occur 1 – 2 minutes later until the 12th of January, when it occurs earlier. Sunset will occur a minute or so later every few days.
Saint Martin’s Summer – Indian Summer
A period of days, as many as seven, where the return of summer warmth follows the first frost. Saint Martin’s summer was named for Saint Martin’s day (November 11) when Saint Martin’s summer was to end in Europe. A comon phrase in New England, Indian Summer originated in the late 1600′s or 1700′s, it has become more widley accepted as in the 20th century.
November Full Moon – Beaver Moon
The Beaver Moon takes its name from the increase in activity observed by beavers as well as the time to set beaver traps before ponds and screams iced over to assure a supply of furs for the cold winter months. In some parts of the county it is also called the frosty moon.
Daylight savings time
Our current version of daylight savings time ends the first sunday of November (November 2 this year) at 2:00 am local daylight time, which becomes 1:00 am local standard time. Daylight time will resume the second Sunday in March, March 8, 2009, at 2:00 am local time. Our current verison became law in 2005. Many countries observe some kind of “summer time” and most of the US observes daylight savings time expect for Hawall and parts of Arizona. A recent hold out, Indiana began observing DST in 2006. (Photo credit: ghewgill creative commons via Flickr)
Hunter’s Moon October 14
The Hunter’s moon is full in October, named as deer and other wild game are fattened and the leaves are falling. Many fields are harvested, making it easy to locate hunting prey.
Autumn 2008
September 22 marks the autumnal equinox – the beginning of fall or autumn, depending on where you grew up.
There are several ideas of autumn: there is the astronomical notion, the time when the sun is aligned over the equator, typically on the 22 or 23rd of September each year. There is the meterological autumn, which is September 1 – November 30.
On this day, the period of day and night are the same length.
