Moon watching is something I'm doing more of now that I'm on
land, rather than big
city living. A full moon means I can move around in the dark without a flashlight. I can't do that when it's a new moon. The moon rise changes every day, so whether the moon is up at a helpful time, or being out-competed by the sun is something useful to know. I've been researching on the web for a couple of years about the geology of North America (although some of the "background" information predates that name by several epoch!) However, the Moon affects the Earth and vice versa, in some extremely important ways for life to continue as we know it, so it's worth knowing a bit about it.
Moon Trivia
1. "Scientists estimate that, in the last several hundred million years, the diameter of the Moon has gotten about 150 feet (50 meters) smaller."
https://moon.nasa.gov/inside-and-out/dynamic-moon/overview/
2. "So, a million years ago, the Moon was about 16 miles more or less closer to the Earth. The moon is moving about 3.8 cm every year so based on this the moon will be 380000000 cms or 3800 kilometers further away from the earth in a million years."
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-history-of-the-Moons-distance-from-the-Earth-and-how-will-its-distance-change-over-the-next-one-million-years
3. "When the Moon is the farthest away, it's 252,088 miles away. That's almost 32 Earths. When it's closest, the Moon is 225,623 miles away."
https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/moon-distance/en/
There's a much more complex dance happening between the moon and the earth than I expected, and things that happen to earth, like large meteor strikes, huge earthquakes/tsunamis, and tectonic plate changes, affect that relationship at least on a geological scale. People are paying more attention. This spring our government weather site issued a warning when a large spring high tide corresponded to an expected windstorm. Caution was advised.
Moon Names https://www.almanac.com/full-moon-names
However, I've also noticed in the last few years, that in the news and on the web, the Moon is being given extra names. It makes sense to me that in prehistory, the moon affected Humans and their actions, and it would have been an important time-keeper for them. But those "extra names" are more geographically, and environmentally related than just calling it Moon.
For example, the Cree called the December Moon, " Frost Exploding
Trees Moon". I can't imagine Indigenous People in Florida relating to that name! Whereas, "Long Night Moon" (Mohican) would make sense all over Europe and North American, but the Australians would suggest that was backwards.
One name for March's moon is the Worm Moon as this was the time that insect larvae would emerge from the bark of trees. Most earthworms were wiped out in North American by the last ice age, and were reintroduced by humans, so now many gardeners think of those worms when they hear that name. However, the Full Worm Moon is about to happen overnight March 24/25 and it will be exta-special, as some areas will be treated to a moon eclipse. Check the
local time if you want to see a show that's been intriguing humans since antiquity.
The Challenge
What would be appropriate names for your region and ecosystem? We don't get much snow, but our Crocus' seem to show up and bloom in February. The Fawn Lily erupt from the ground in March as if by magic. I'm expecting to see actual fawns any time now. Do you all have some favourite "moon times"?
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