Snow Moon sees out the shortest month

It’s appropriate that February’s full moon is called the “Snow Moon.” Deciphering the name is easy, because if you bet it to snow in February, start counting your money.

In America, the shortest month has the most snow, according to the National Weather Service.

Snow Moon is just one name that has come down to us from Native American and Colonial American sources, according to the The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

Other names for the moon that made Island skies magical this weekend are, according to that Old Farmer, related to animals in Native American societies, such as the Eagle Moon (Cree), Bear Moon (Ojibwe) Raccoon Moon (Dakota) or the Goose Moon (Haida).

The Cherokee people, knowing February was a time of scarceness, called the February full moon the Bony Moon, or the Hungry Moon.

The two heavy February snowfalls that turned the landscape white are still with us, with snow resting in patches in the woods, or in long shrouds next to roadways, reminding us that months are fleeting, and yet permanent in memory.