Say goodbye sugartime?

The Minnesota Weather Guide Calendar tells us that today, tonight  actually, the full moon is called Maple Sap Boiling Moon (Ojibwe) or Fattening Moon (Lakota). The Ojibwe name is self evident for those of us who grew up in maple syrup country. The Lakota name appears to be a shortened version of when wives cracks bones for marrow fat.

I find the Native American names for full moons to be much better seasonal descriptors than those of the calendar months. Here’s a listing for the Ojibwe and one for the Lakota. There appear to be more and more folks claiming we need to return to living closer to nature to live healthy, sustainable lives in a culture that has the potential for a future. Learning the full moon names used by the Native Americans who once occupied wherever you live seems like a fairly easy and good way to acknowledge seasonal changes noted by those who lived in the area before US.

maple syrup time

Photo by J. Harrington

I’ve not been out to take a peek at any of the local sugar bush. With today’s wind, any bucket not full could be blown loose and maybe, in some gusts, even those that are full might be at risk. If you look carefully at the picture, you’ll see several trees have a number of lichen growing on them. As the weather warms and we get more moisture in the air (warm air holds more water than cold air) lichen became active again. Looking at the extended forecast, this week could be the end of sugar season for this year. we’ll watch and see if cold nights return after our upcoming warm spell.

Goddess of Maple at Evening

Chard deNiord - 1952-

She breathed a chill that slowed the sap 
inside the phloem, stood perfectly still
inside the dark, then walked to a field 
where the distance crooned in a small 
blue voice how close it is, how the gravity 
of sky pulls you up like steam from the arch.
She sang along until the silence soloed 
in a northern wind, then headed back 
to the sugar stand and drank from a maple 
to thin her blood with the spirit of sap. 
To quicken its pace to the speed of sound 
then hear it boom inside her heart. 
To quicken her mind to the speed of light 
with another suck from the flooded tap.

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