January's Wolf Moon

January's moon seen above the evergreens on the hill is a thing of beauty, but it is a chill beauty that sings of ice, deep snow, wind and hunger in the wilds. A few months ago, I photographed waves of departing geese silhouetted against the rising moon, and although the great birds are long gone, their parting songs remained with me last evening.

We stoke up our fireplaces and wood stoves. We stay close by our hearths in the long nights. We brew endless pots of tea and countless cauldrons of soup, counting the sticks of firewood piled in our summer kitchens and along our verandas, silently calculating how long the supply of firewood will hold out this year. We wrap up in every warm garment we possess and take toboggan loads of food out into the forest for the birds and the red squirrels and the deer. We look for the first signs that daylight hours are increasing, and we measure the length of the long blue shadows along the trail into the woods.

Before nightfall last evening, our eastern timber wolves raised their voices in song, and the coyotes on the other side of the Two Hundred Wood sang a magnificent harmony, the two wild and elemental choruses rising and falling like waves across the snow. It was icy cold, and as I waited for Lady Moon to appear, I remembered that in several weeks, the Great Horned Owls will be nesting in our woods again. A few weeks after that, the maple syrup season will (hopefully) be starting in the Lanark Highlands.

We also know this moon as the: After Yule Moon, Big Cold Moon, Buckeyes Ripe Moon, Carnation Moon, Center Moon, Ceremonial Initiate Moon, Cold Moon, Cooking Moon, Turning Moon, Earth Renewal Moon, First Moon, Frost in the Tepee Moon, Frozen Ground Moon, Great Moon, Great Spirit Moon, Greetings Maker Moon, Her Cold Moon, Hibiscus Moon, Holiday Moon, Ice Moon, Lakes Frozen Moon, Little Winter Moon, Long Moon, Man Moon, Midwinter Moon, Moon After Yule, Moon of Darkness, Moon of Flying Ants, Moon of Life at It's Height, Moon of Strong Cold, Moon of the Bear, Moon of the Child, Moon of Whirling Snow, Moon When Animals Lose Their Fat, Moon When Limbs of Trees Are Broken by Snow, Moon When Snow Drifts into Tipis, Moon When the Snow Blows like Spirits in the Wind, Moon When the Sun Has Traveled South, Moon When the Old Fellow Spreads the Brush , Moon When Wolves Run Together, Ninene Moon, No Snow in Trails Moon, Old Moon, Pine Moon, Plum Blossom Moon, Quiet Moon, Rivros Moon, Rowan Moon, Severe Moon, Snow Blindness Moon, Snow Moon, Snow Thaws Moon, Snowdrop Moon, Snowy Path Moon, Strong Cold Moon, Sun Has Not Strength to Thaw Moon, Thumb Moon, Trail Squint Moon, Two Trails Moon, Weight Loss Moon, Whirling Wind Moon, White Waking Moon, Winter Moon, Winter's Younger Brother Moon, Wolf Moon

As an admirer of wolves, I like the name "Wolf Moon", but I am also fond of "Great Spirit Moon" and "Earth Renewal Moon".