It was March 9, shortly after nine in the evening. I was heading home from a meeting in town and, as I came around a bend in the road, there it was right in front of me.
All I could do was gaze at it in absolute amazement. Hanging there in the night sky was the largest full moon I’d seen in years. It was just so huge and impressive. So big and bright and beautiful – it could only have been described as a super moon.
According to Wikipedia, a supermoon is said to occur when the moon is within 90 per cent of perigee or its closest approach to Earth in orbit. All I know is that the supermoon I witnessed lit up the sky like huge lantern. In fact, it lit up the night sky from Sunday evening through to early Wednesday.
Such a full moon is also referred to as a full worm moon. In earlier times, according to the Farmer’s Almanac, names were given to each full moon of the year to help track the seasons. “In this case, as the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins, thus the origin of March’s full moon, named the Full Worm Moon.” It is also called a Full Crust Moon as the snow cover becomes crusted from freezing at night.
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Read more: March supermoon to light up the skies over B.C. tonight
Normally, there are 12 full moons in a year because one occurs each month. However, this year the month of October will have two full moons, one occurring on October 1 and another again on October 31. Two full moons in the same month is known as a blue moon. There are three supermoons this year, including one on April 7.
I have thought about the supermoon of this past March 9 a number of times as I have given considerable thought to the worldwide pandemic that is effecting our entire planet now. I cannot predict the future for any of us but I do know that the moon will continue to orbit around our planet just as the planet Earth will continue to orbit the sun. We shall get through this.
May all who read this column be able to face each new day with a little more hope. Stay well.