Sturgeon Moon

2006-08-11 15:20:39.000 – Kristin Odell,  Summit Intern

This past Wednesday we had the opportunity to catch a wonderful display from the full lunar cycle known as the Sturgeon Moon. It was so beautiful I felt it appropriate to capture the experience in poem form. So here it goes…

An announcement came down that the sky was ablaze. And with that, we were up to give it a gaze. What a show from below through the clear night sky. A flash of a lake instantly catches my eye. What can that be, such a wondrous site? Twas the moonlights reflection giving birth to such light. The miles did not tarnish such brilliance of show. As the beams danced and twinkled across the water below. “This light,” I thought. “What a spectacular thing. Traveling across the Cosmos with the power it brings!”

As I mentioned above, this full moon cycle is commonly referred to as the Sturgeon Moon. Some Native American tribes came to realize that the sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain seemed to be in more abundance during this full Moon phase. Other names of this phase include the Full Green Corn Moon or the Full Grain Moon.

Much like the Indians, we here in New England partake in fishing events amidst the moon lit sky. It’s called, smelt dipping. As a child my family and I, every April, would venture up to Maine to partake in this one of a kind event. Smelt dipping really only occurs when the moon is at it fullest stage. This amazing species will instinctually run when the moon is full. It’s an incredible thing.

All kinds of weird things happen when the moon is full. You know, people acting strangely, falling in love, turning into werewolves, that kind of thing. It’s a mystical phenomenon, that glowing orbital ball in the sky.

Kristin Odell,  Summit Intern