LAGUNA CANYON FOUNDATION
July 2008 E-Letter
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Moonrise 

Moon rise at sunset by Byrle Moore, used with permission, www.flickr.com/photos/ssgmoore1369/923321160/.

The moon's an arrant thief,
And her pale fire she snatches from the sun.
 
 ~William Shakespeare, English poet and playwright, 1564-1616
 
Hello, friends. For native peoples from prehistory to the industrial age, the moon was like a calendar, waxing and waning through the seasons in the same predictable pattern. To keep track of the year's passage, American Indians in what is now the northeastern United States gave descriptive names to each full moon and applied them to the entire month. Because the average lunar month lasts 29 days, the dates and the months shifted from year to year. Different tribes called July's full moon either the the buck moon (when a buck deer's furry antlers first emerge), the thunder moon (month of thunderstorms) or the hay moon (threshing time). Such names, from January's wolf moon to June's strawberry moon, reflect the spiritual connection to nature that imbued Indians' lives before European settlement. Although we no longer need the moon to chart time's progress, its constant, shining presence reminds us to KEEP IT WILD.
happy hiker logo without name
 
See nature in a whole new light on our
 Full Moon Hike, Friday, July 18 from 6:00-9:00 p.m. (Reservations required, 949-923-2235.) Visit www.lagunacanyon.org to learn more about this and other park activities. Laguna Canyon Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving, protecting and enhancing the South Coast Wilderness.

Questions? E-mail Ellen Girardeau Kempler, Communications Director, Laguna Canyon Foundation, [email protected]