August Friday Morning
On Friday morning, I was drinking my tea at the dining room table and idly watching a chipmunk perched on the birdfeeder in our front yard. It flicked its tail sharply in exact synchrony with each loud chip! more than a dozen times. I have no idea what it was going on about.
July Days—Independence, Ripening, and a Pony Swim
This month was originally named Quintilis (“fifth”) in the old Roman calendar, which had March as the first month of the year. It was renamed to honor Julius Caesar, who reformed the calendar in 46 BCE to add leap years, and move the start of the year to January.
To the Mdewakaŋtuŋwaŋ Dakota of Minnesota, the full moon on July 29 is either the Chokecherry Ripening Moon or, more generally, When Things Ripen Moon.
The Longest Day and Other June Days
This month is named for the Roman goddess Juno, wife/partner of Jupiter; queen of the heavens; protector of women, childbirth, and marriage. The Ojibwe name for the full moon on June 29 is Strawberry Moon. The Anglo-Saxon name for both June and July is Liða, spelled Litha in modern English
May Day and other May days: Letting petals fall where they may
May is named for Maia, Roman earth goddess. To the Anglo-Saxons, it’s Thrimilce, meaning “three milks” or milkings, because cattle are well-fed on fresh grass and can be milked three times a day.
April Fooling Around and Finding Out
The origin of this month’s name is uncertain—it could be from Latin aperire, “to open” (as flowers), or from aprilis: “the following” or “next,” referring to its place as the second month of the old Roman calendar. It has also been attributed to Apru, an Etruscan word for the Greek goddess Aphrodite. The Saxons called it Éastermónað in honor of Eostre/Easter, goddess of dawn, spring, and the east.