We've heard people calling it a "harvest moon", which brought up the question...what is a harvest moon exactly?
Here is what we found:
The harvest moon is the full moon that occurs closest to the date of the autumn equinox in the Northern Hemisphere.
People say that the harvest moon shines brighter and more golden during the autumn. But because there is very little time between sunset and moonrise it may appear more golden at times.
Farmer's who are out harvesting their field's sometimes very late into the darkness value the full moon to light up their fields.
A similar moon appears in the Southern latitudes during the time of the Spring Equinox.
The harvest moon does not always happen in September. The harvest moon depends on the date of the full moon with relation to the Equinox. In 2001, the harvest moon fell in October.
To determine the date of the harvest moon:
1. Find the date of the Autumn Equinox. 2. Determine the full moon dates for both September and October 3. Count the number of days from the Equinox to the September full moon. 4. Count the number of days from the Equinox to the October full moon. 5. The closest full moon to the Equinox is considered the "harvest moon".
And here is a little 1931 song by Ruth Etting called Shine On Harvest Moon.
They helicopter through the air. They parachute away with
the wind. They sail down the river. They are picked up and carried away. They
are dropped and land with a thud before rolling off to new places. They are travelers. They are
seeds.
Pockets full of acorns. That is one of the first signs of
fall in this house. But acorns are just one of the many different types of seeds
we are seeing daily now. Some, like the acorn, are large and others so small and
light they are blown by the breeze before one can even make a good observation.
Today at the beach we saw so many seeds on the trail we
started to collect and document them.We talked about the special ways they have to get out of their pods and
find places to grow next spring.
Our Museum of Natural History has a wonderful display about
seed dispersal. Recalling what we learned from the display we talked about how
the seeds we were observing moved around. We recalled four major ways... please let me know if you know of others.
Wind
Many seeds have parachutes.
These fluffy chutes help them to
catch the wind until coming down in a place that will hopefully be a great spot
to grow in the spring.
Gravity
Other seeds simply drop to the ground. Once there they may
roll away, be picked up somehow and carried off or simply grow in the spot
which they fell.
Water
If water is nearby there is
always the possibility that a seed will fall into the water. They can then be
carried away in currents until being washed ashore somewhere.
The seeds above were an experiment by my daughter. She wanted to see which seeds would float. All the seeds she tried did float but if you would like to read about some seeds that are specially adapted to float this post by Stefani about sea beans fascinating.
Animals
Animals help with seed dispersal in a few ways.
Seeds are easy food to store and many birds, such as
woodpeckers, store them for the winter. Some of those seeds are forgotten or
left uneaten for whatever reason and given the chance to grow.
Larger animals eat seeds that can’t be digested and the seed
travels through their digestive track to be passed in a ready-made pile of
fertilizer.
Some seeds are prickly. This quality makes it easy
for them to be caught up in the fur of a passing animal and carried away.
Other seeds are pretty little packages that are fun to pick
up and fit wonderfully in pockets. They are carried about until the joy of
being on a hike gets the best of the little beast who gathered them and they
are jumbled and tossed about until they fly out of a pocket, tumble along the
path and find just the right place to grow next to the babbling brook.
We are going to continue to keep an eye out for these travelers and document how they get around and the many other wonderful things about seeds. We have been tossing around ideas for seed projects. If you know of any good seed projects we would love to hear about them.
Have you been seeing seeds in your part of the world?
Whether it be the beach, forest, back yard or city park
there are seeds to be seen all around. Fall is a fun time of year to head out
on a seed hunt. How many different types can you find? What shapes are they?
How do those shapes help them find a good place to grow? How do they protect
themselves? How do they travel? Just a few questions to get you started. I am
sure once you get out there with your little one many more will arise.
And because I could not possibly end a post with a picture of scat... here are a few more of those acorns we love so dearly!
It started with fairy houses and this Andy Goldsworthy video from the library. Or now that I think about it, maybe it started with sand castles and pine cone collecting. Or did it start with muddy sticks, flowers, and little piles of rocks? It's hard to pinpoint exactly when it started because "Land Art" has been a part of our family for a long time. Actually, I think it is part of everyone's family. There seems to be a primal need to collect and create with bits and pieces of nature that surround us. Just watch any child in action outside and you will see a natural born "land artist". It's inspiring to see what can emerge from the collaboration between nature, imagination, and a pair hands. No fancy tools. No expensive art supplies. No elaborate directions to follow or pressure to produce a specific product. These natural creations are not permanent or static. They will be impacted by the wind, the tide, the rain, the sun. They will change and disappear. Just as they can easily tumble down, they can easily be re-constructed into something new or just fall back into their previous state of existence.
They can be collaborative installations. Sometimes our whole family will work together to build a large structure. Other times it is a solitary task.
The medium changes based upon our location and the time of year: rocks, sand, shells, leaves, sticks, beach balls, feathers, flowers,etc. These bring along their own set of challenges requiring us to figure out ways to balance, compose, and design something that is pleasing to our eyes while working with natural materials that might be fragile or too heavy to move. It means that there will be moments of frustration when things don't come together the way we wanted them to, but often that will lead to a new possilibility that we never would have considered. It's pretty amazing to watch the natural world merge with the world of imagination.
Made any land art recently? Want to learn more about land art? Check out these links:
We here are The Magnifying Glass are pleased to report that The Magnifying Glass Bookshop is now officially open for business. I think it is well known that we are book lovers around here, and that we especially love sharing our favorite books about nature and science with all of you. A couple of months ago, we began talking about ways to catalog some of our most loved titles to make them easier for our wonderful readers to find and share with their own children.
So, beginning today, you can pop over to the Amazon shop we've created and check out some of our most beloved titles! There are plenty of good reads in a number of categories, ranging from field guides to use with your littles to activity books and even kid-friendly non-fiction. It is a work in progress, of course, and we'll continue to add great titles to the shop as we go forward. Also, feel more than free to leave a comment here with any of your own recommendations of books you think we might like to add.
Eren: Annie, I have been following you through your photos in The Magnifying Glass flickr pool. Thank you for letting me interview you!
Annie: Thanks, Eren. The Magnifying Glass blog is one I enjoy a great deal!
Eren: Would you tell us a little about your family and the area you live in?
Annie: My husband, Cam and I live with our children, Lily (7) and Leif (3) on the north pacific coast of British Columbia in a city called Prince Rupert. Touted as "The City of Rainbows", it's known for it's rain... and rain and more rain. I've discovered just how lovely it is to photograph a place with so much rain. I'm in love with all the green!
There are endless places to explore here. We love to spend time island hopping or fishing on a friend's boat or spending time at our cabin just a few hours away on a remote river. This area isn't very populated by world standards and it's not hard to find places to go where you'll have nature to yourself. There is a rich native heritage here with a number of native groups. Evidence of this culture can be found all over, like the vast shell middens and stone petroglyphs.
Eren: What would a perfect day out and about in nature look like for you?
Annie: We've had many perfect days this summer! Recently we found ourselves camped on an unnamed remote beach. It was enormous. We woke to the warm sun and the sounds of Grey Whales blowing and diving just off shore. They were feeding by scooping up the sandy sea floor capturing little sea creatures in their baleen. We spent most of our time beach combing and exploring an eighty year old shipwreck flattened on the rocks usually hidden by higher tides. We built campfires and ate skillet cooked bread that had been rising most of the day. We ate fresh caught crab with our supper and banana boats for dessert. Of course there was also running after dark on the sandy beach to watch the phosphoresces glow underfoot.
Eren: Oh, Wow Annie, that sounds amazing. I would love to see Grey Whales in real life someday. What a treat! My boys can't get enough of cicadas right now. What are your kids into these days? What are their favorite outdoor activities?
Annie: I remember your post about the cicadas! I'd never seen one before. My kids love to collect small treasures wherever we go. They'll carry baskets and find witch's hair, pine cones, shells, rocks and feathers. We've found parts of animal skeletons like moose jaws and elk antlers. We even have a small collection of teeth (bear, elk, deer). Lily and Leif also love to set up forest forts or "seaweed cafes" when we are on the beach. Fun for endless pretend play.
Eren: Seaweed cafes! I love it! Did you grow up doing "outdoors-y" kinds of things?
Annie: Oddly I didn't. I've written before on my blog about how my life completely changed when I met my husband. Shortly after meeting him, he convinced me to swim in a lake for the first time in my life. Hiking, skiing and all other things outdoors were new for me. Cam was so gentle and encouraging. I started taking pictures and I spending my free time chronicling the local wild flowers from year to year. Anything to be outside. More and more I'm excited and driven to give my children a different childhood than the one I knew growing up. One with plenty of hands on outdoor experience.
Eren : So what lessons are you (and your kids) learning by being in the natural world these days?
Annie: I love the quiet moments best. Watching a slug cross the path or spying on moose and bear feeding in a meadow. Away from the city lights the stars are bright and the constellations are clear. There are moments when someone will hold their breath so as not to alarm wild horses or a beaver who have yet to catch our scent. This "in the moment" mindfulness is my favourite. I hope my kids are learning in these moments to let nature be as much as possible and to tread lightly.
Of course the most common lesson we learn is about the cycle of life. Watching as a Bald Eagle flaps his huge wings to aid in tearing open a wolf's headless corpse. Touching and learning about a fish's parts while cleaning it to take home to eat. Seeing the vast destruction of a local 250 year old lava flow and talking about the villages wiped out and the lives lost.
Eren: What great things to experience with your kids! And onto another topic - We love books here at The Magnifying Glass. Any good books you would recommend for our readers?
Annie: Some recent favourites my kids and I have been reading are:
Down at The Seaweed Cafe (Perry)
How Seeds Travel (Overbeck)
Nature Crafts (Jaeger)
Bugs (Usborne Books/Dickins)
How To Make and Fly Kites (Barwell/Bailey)
Thank you Annie! It has been wonderful getting to know a bit more about you and your family.
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You can follow Annie Chubson's flickr stream here and follow her blog (and incredible recipes) at Sensible Living.
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Nature— the sublime, the harsh, and the beautiful— offers something that the street or gated community or computer game cannot. Nature presents the young with something so much greater than they are; it offers an environment where they can easily contemplate infinity and eternity. —Richard Louv
