The Mead Moon of July

Sometimes the moon gifts you with her presence on fine summer nights, and then there are other evenings when you know she is shining up there somewhere beyond the dark clouds and rain, but she does not appear for the longing human eye. Last evening was one of those other times - it is turning out to be a remarkably wet and moderate summer here, and Lady Moon in all her radiant fullness could not be seen for even a moment, although we (Spencer and I) went hopefully out to the garden whenever the rain stopped.

Thankfully, we have the memories of other moons to engage our thoughts, and sometimes, our revisitations of other moons are so complete that we can see moonlight shining across the water, hear long ago waves lapping the shore, touching the silent reeds like a benediction, wrapping themselves around the long legs of herons wading in the shallows.

Last year at this time, my beautiful Cassie was here with me by my side, and we sang a haunting moon song with the timber wolves over the hill. There will never be another summer moon when I don't think of Aloha and Taylor, two beloved friends who passed away last July, and Cassie who followed them across the bridge into the next world a few weeks later.

We also know this moon as the: Black Cherries Moon, Blackberry Moon, Blessing Moon, Blood Moon, Blueberry Moon, Buck Moon, Claim Song Moon, Corn in Tassel Moon, Corn Moon, Corn Popping Moon, Crane Moon, Daisy Moon, Fallow Moon, Feather Molting Moon, Flying Moon, Grass Cutter Moon, Ground Burn Moon, Hay Moon, Holly Moon, Horse Moon, Humpback Salmon Return to Earth Moon, Hungry Ghost Moon, Index Finger Moon, Larkspur Moon, Lightning Moon, Little Harvest Moon, Little Heat Moon, Little Moon of Deer Horns Dropping off, Little Ripening Moon, Lotus Flower Moon, Manzanita Ripens Moon, Meadow Moon, Midsummer Moon, Middle of Summer Moon, Moon of Blood, Moon of Claiming, Moon of Claiming, Moon of Fledgling Hawk, Moon of Much Ripening, Moon of Ripeness, Moon of the Home Dance, Moon of the Horse, Moon of the Middle Summer, Moon of the Young Corn, Moon When Cherries Are Ripe, Moon When Ducks Begin to Moult, Moon When Limbs of Are Trees Broken by Fruit, Moon When People Move Camp Together, Moon When Squash Are Ripe and Indian Beans Begin to Be Edible, Moon When the Buffalo Bellows, Moon When the Chokecherries Begin to Ripen, Moon When the Wild Cherries Are Ripe, Mountain Clover Moon, Peaches Moon, Raspberry Moon, Red Berries Moon, Red Blooming Lilies Moon, Red Cherries Moon,, Return from Harvest Moon, Ripe Corn Moon, Ripe Moon, Ripening Moon, Rose Moon, Salmon Go up the Rivers in a Group Moon, Seventh Moon, Smokey Moon, Strawberry Moon,, Strong Sun Moon, Sun House Moon, Thunder Moon, Warming Sun Moon, Water Lily Moon, Wattle Moon, Wort Moon