A couple nights ago I looked into our southwestern sky and saw this crescent moon hanging in a clear sky. The sight reminded me of a time when my family and Mary's parents were riding in a car after touring some points of interest in the vicinity. Mary's mother looked up and saw this moon hanging in this orientation and said, "The old folks always said this is a dry moon. The rain sits in the curve and can't run out." I've often thought this statement is a good reason to listen to the older generation, because of the richness of the myths and legends they possess knowledge of.
The moon gets its share of attention with sayings like once in a blue moon, or he hung the moon, or barking at the moon, and if I looked hard enough I could find lots of other references to it.
The Indians referenced the moon when they gave names to the months based on the cycles of the moon. Each tribe said it differently. The Lakota called our month of February the Moon When the Trees Crack; Mandan-Hidatsa called April the Moon of the Breaking Up of Ice; Cheyenne called January the Moon of the Strong Cold and December the Moon When the Wolves Run Together; Chippewa called March the Snow Crust Moon, October the Falling Leaves Moon, and November the Freezing Moon; Apache called April the Moon of the Big Leaves; Assiniboine called June the Full Leaf Moon; etc. Seasonal and monthly cycles were powerful in the lives of primitive people. Science hadn't yet entered into their picture and they best explained their world with what they observed.
Ole always lurks in onecorner of my mind. He was asked one time which is more useful, the sun or the moon? Vell, I tink it's da moon because the moon shines at night when you want the light und the sun shines during the day when you don't need it.
Ole and Lars were walking home from the pub and Ole says to Lars, "What a bootiful night, just look at that moon up dere." Lars stops and stares at it and says, "Ole you'se wrong, dat's not the moon, dat's the sun." So they argued about that for awhile til they came on a very drunk man named Sven. "Say, help us out here. Vat's dat shining up dere? The moon or the sun?" Sven stared up high, then with crossed eyes back at them, "Beats me, I don't live around here."
The moon gets its share of attention with sayings like once in a blue moon, or he hung the moon, or barking at the moon, and if I looked hard enough I could find lots of other references to it.
The Indians referenced the moon when they gave names to the months based on the cycles of the moon. Each tribe said it differently. The Lakota called our month of February the Moon When the Trees Crack; Mandan-Hidatsa called April the Moon of the Breaking Up of Ice; Cheyenne called January the Moon of the Strong Cold and December the Moon When the Wolves Run Together; Chippewa called March the Snow Crust Moon, October the Falling Leaves Moon, and November the Freezing Moon; Apache called April the Moon of the Big Leaves; Assiniboine called June the Full Leaf Moon; etc. Seasonal and monthly cycles were powerful in the lives of primitive people. Science hadn't yet entered into their picture and they best explained their world with what they observed.
Ole always lurks in onecorner of my mind. He was asked one time which is more useful, the sun or the moon? Vell, I tink it's da moon because the moon shines at night when you want the light und the sun shines during the day when you don't need it.
Ole and Lars were walking home from the pub and Ole says to Lars, "What a bootiful night, just look at that moon up dere." Lars stops and stares at it and says, "Ole you'se wrong, dat's not the moon, dat's the sun." So they argued about that for awhile til they came on a very drunk man named Sven. "Say, help us out here. Vat's dat shining up dere? The moon or the sun?" Sven stared up high, then with crossed eyes back at them, "Beats me, I don't live around here."
