Sunday, April 5, 2015

Over The Bow: Pink Moon Paddle Video Blog Extra



Come along for this Outside Adventure to the Max's special journey for this video blog extra.
This weekend I took part in full moon paddle with the Sacramento Paddle Pushers on Lake Natoma near Folsom, California. The meetup group's posting called for a full "Pink" moon rising. In poetic fashion, it says, "This Full Moon heralded the appearance of the pink moss, or wild ground phlox—one of the first spring flowers."
Calling this full moon "Pink" is a misnomer because this weekend's "Pink" Full Moon isn't really pink. It will still have the yellowish-white complexion that it always does, that is until early Saturday morning's lunar eclipse, but I'll tell you more about that later.
It refers to the herb moss which grows abundantly in early spring. In Native American cultures, this full moon has many names such as Sprouting Grass Moon, Egg Moon, and among coastal tribes, it's the Fish Moon, because this was the time of year that the shad swam upstream to spawn.
Our ancient ancestors have always looked to the sky. They gave names to the Full Moons to keep track of the seasons. January's full moon is called the Wolf Moon. Because of the warming temperatures when earthworms begin to appear March's moon is the Worm Moon. While September's full moon is called the Corn Moon or Harvest Moon because its when corn was supposed to be harvested. These colorful names all in invoke a certain magic. The moon is our the closest heavenly body in our nighttime skies. For thousands of years, we have used its light to guide us in the dark. What better way to sense its lunar allure than to watch the sunset into golden waters in the west and see the moon climb into the evening sky while kayaking.

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