by Sid Baglini
Wednesday, February 12, 2025 7:00 PM
The Full Snow Moon invites us to dress warmly and venture out to enjoy its light, preferably reflected and enriched by a blanket of frozen precipitation. There is a magic abroad when a brilliant Moon meets a snowy or icy landscape. Visibility is maximized and the sparkle of light on all surfaces lends a special beauty to the night. The only improvement on walking in a winter wonderland is skiing, sledding, skating or tobogganing by moonlight — all of which I have done in my youth and can highly recommend!
Of course, February’s Full Moon comes with a fistful of other monikers: The Bear Moon, The Eagle Moon, The Groundhog Moon and The Raccoon Moon are welcome changes from all the frigid names associated with December and January’s Full Moons. But Winter is not over yet as we can tell from the Cherokee Tribe’s names, Month of the Bony Moon and The Hungry Moon. The animals may be making an appearance on the landscape, foretelling Spring, but food was still in very short supply and life would be hard for some time to come.
The Alpha Centaurids Meteor Shower will be active through much of the month but this is a rather low key event and only produces about 6 meteors per hour. Since it peaks on the 8th, we will not expect to experience a misnamed “falling star” on our walk. However, both Venus and Jupiter have been brilliantly visible and should continue to put on a show for us and we may see Mars too.
Our group of hardy Moonwalkers invites you to put your winter togs to good use and join us for a walk in the moonlight. Please keep in mind that while we hope for a wintery landscape for maximum beauty and light, if icy conditions make walking hazardous, we will have to cancel our plans. We meet behind Borough Hall where there is plenty of parking in Channing and First Avenues.