Sunday, August 22, 2021
Sunset – 7:56 pm
Moonrise – 8:32 pm
High Tide – 9:19 pm
Full Sturgeon Moon
The moon only made a brief appearance last month for our bonfire but it was still a pleasurable evening for a full moon bonfire on the beach with friends and neighbors. Let’s do it again this month! We will start the bonfire near sunset and it will need to be out by 10:00 pm. The bonfire will be between Boardwalks 1 and 2.
To keep things simple, each person brings what you want: food, drinks, chairs and a stick of firewood for a big bonfire. Nothing will be provided but a beautiful beach, a bonfire and, hopefully, a full moon.
People ask if the bonfire will be held if it’s rainy. The bonfire will be cancelled if it is raining or rain is threatening as few would be comfortable attending.
Our baby Loggerhead turtles are still emerging. The fire needs to be out no later than 10 pm. This means our time together may be shorter than we wish but there will still be plenty of time to enjoy our beautiful beach and the companionship of our friends and neighbors.
The timing won’t be good for our bonfire but the International Space Station will be doing a flyover Charleston at 6:04 am on Sunday as well.
Put these dates for the Full Moon Bonfires on your calendar:
Monday, September 20
Wednesday, October 20
Friday, November 19
There’s always plenty of room on the beach for everyone, so invite a friend or bring your house guests.
How the Full Moon got its name per the Old Farmers Almanac:
August: Sturgeon Moon – Lake sturgeon, found in the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain, as well as in several rivers, were once much more abundant. These large (some more than 6 feet long!) migratory fish were an important staple for Native American peoples living in the area. Captain Jonathan Carver came across this term for the lunar month during his travels in the 1760s. Alternative names are:
• Flying Up Moon (Cree) describing the time when young birds are ready to fly.
• Corn Moon (Algonquin, Ojibwe)
• Harvest Moon (Dakota)
• Ricing Moon (Anishinaabe) signify the time to gather mature crops.
• Black Cherries Moon (Assiniboine) referring to when chokecherries were ripe.
• Mountain Shadows Moon (Tlingit)
I found another website. This site also says the Cherokee Indians called it the Fruit Moon and the English Medieval name was the Corn Moon.
Another website says the Chinese call it Harvest Moon.
This year, the Sturgeon Moon is also a seasonal Blue Moon. A Blue Moon is not blue. According to Farmer’s Almanac, it refers to the second of two full moons in the same month (as was the case for the Halloween Blue Moon of October 2020). It can also refer to the emergence of four, instead of three full moons in a “season,” defined as the period between a Solstice and an Equinox. When this occurs, the third of the four moons is considered the Blue Moon. And in 2021, that is the Sturgeon Moon.
-Submitted by Judy Morr