Strawberries, Roses, and Green Corn

This is last night's full moon. While we in North America didn't get to see the unusually long lunar eclipse, I thought the moon setting over Lake Gregory (I took this around 4 a.m.) was really pretty. Oh, wait. I guess that would make it this morning's full moon. Well, whatever. I just wish that trail from a jet hadn't been there. Ah, well.

The European name for June's full moon is 'Rose Moon,' while the Cherokee name is 'Moon of the Green Corn' or 'Strawberry Moon.' My Cherokee relatives on my father's side always called it the 'Strawberry Moon' while my grandfather on my mother's side, who was an Oglala Sioux, called it 'The Moon of the Most Annoying Big Mosquitoes.' I 'm pretty sure he made that up just to annoy his Italian wife, my maternal grandmother, who always insisted on calling it the 'Rose Moon' and said that he was more annoying than any mosquito. But she said it with affection...I think.