Howling at the Moon

Now that lovely moon that I wrote about yesterday is waning. According to the Farmer’s Almanac, it is 99% full which, to me, is full! I can’t tell that one per cent has vanished. Also, according to the Farmer’s Almanac, it is known as the Wolf Moon, Yule Moon, Snow Moon, all because this bright January orb is usually the first full moon after Christmas. Can’t you imagine the Indian people, sheltered from the snow in their snug homes, listening to the wolves out there in the snow, howling? Did the wolves  howl because of the moon, or did they howl because they were hunting for food, or did they howl just because?

Today the temperature is below freezing and I certainly hope the wind doesn’t blow like it did yesterday. Full moon, strong wind, something prickly was in the air. I found myself just a bit more easily irritated, a bit more impatient, and there was no particular reason except the moon and the wind! It’s nice to have something to blame, isn’t it? Actually, back in the days when I taught kindergarten, we teachers of young children could always tell when a full moon was up there somewhere in the sky. An outbreak of bickering invaded the classroom, restless little hands and feet often couldn’t resist getting into their neighbors’ space, and at the end of the day, we grown-ups were exhausted. If there was a full moon, a rainy day, and the cooks served doughnuts for breakfast, it was definitely a Two Excedrin kind of day.

Stories, songs, poems, and folklore about the moon abound.  Something about it stirs the imagination. Even though it looks serene way up there above us,  its effect on earthlings is not always restful.  I don’t believe I’ve ever written a poem or a song about it but I do have a work in progress called Moonlight Can Be Murder. That was inspired by the mysterious  moon. I wonder; if I listened really hard, could I hear a wolf from years gone by, prowling around out there somewhere, serenading that round white light in the nighttime sky?