Tanabata, the Star Festival

 

According to folklore, on the 7th day of the 7th month, two stars cross the river of the Milky Way  to meet again after a year apart. They are the stars Altair and Vega, part of the Summer Triangle,  along with the star Deneb.

You can read more about the Summer Triangle here.  

It  is a story about two married lovers--Orihime and Hikoboshi, the Weaver and the Cowherd.  

You can read their story, here.

Their meeting is celebrated throughout  China and Japan. The actual date may vary, but it usually begins on the 7th day of the 7th month according to the Gregorian calendar. Tanabata is a summer festival of magic and romance and ripening rice fields---an evening of lanterns, beautiful colors, dances and fireflies! 

In case of rain,  and the lovers cannot meet, their reunion is postponed for another year. 

Hope for clear skies tonight! 

The First Full Moon of Summer

 

 

Astronomical summer begins with the June solstice on June 20.   Thanks to our tilted planet,  the sun appears to reach the Tropic of Cancer, its most northern latitude on Earth.  

These are the longest days--over 15 hours of daylight. In Chicago, sunrises at 5:15 am, sunsets at 8:29 pm.

And tonight is a full moon--the first full moon of summer. It's called the strawberry moon,  from native American tribes that named it for  the ripe strawberries in June.

It is also called the honey moon--from honey people use to make mead, which was often served at  June weddings.

Whatever you call it,  the moon tonight  will be beautiful.  Moonrise is at 8:51 pm in Chicago. Look for it in the southeast. 

As the poet Issa wrote--

"It's like nothing they compare it to--the summer moon"

A Sunday in June

 

 

Now comes June and  perfect summer days. Rain overnight, and today, blue sky, and fair-weather clouds.

Meteorological  summer began June 1.  These are the longest days, now.  These days have been filled with the sounds of cicadas.

There is the regular droning sound in the trees. It washes over you, like rain. It sounds almost metallic, like distant power tools.

There is a second chorus--rising and falling,  a rattling like maracas.

There is the sudden chirping from a single cicada, surprised on a leaf, or when you pick it up from the sidewalk so it doesn't get stepped on. The sidewalks are covered with crushed cicadas.  

These sounds of nature may be accompanied by the sounds of power mowers, leaf blowers, and weed trimmers.

There are the little kids on their scooters, and the big kids shouting and laughing, riding bicycles, playing basketball in the alley. 

And the tinkling music of an  ice-cream trucks beckoning with treats.

Sunday, Sunday here on these tree-lined streets, the sounds of gunfire and bombs are so far away..

 

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Under the same sun

 

 

Remember the eclipse in April, the auroras a weekend ago? These have been once-in-a-lifetime experiences  in this most beautiful spring.

Almost full moon again.  Days of rain and sun.  The  irises are blooming now---and peonies! 

It may be "no mow May"  but  I can hear a  power mowers down the street. Yes, the grass is growing so fast, and so are the milkweeds. It seems to me there are more wildflower gardens and prairie gardens this year.   And vegetable gardens, too. 

Now is the time for planting.  So many varieties of peppers and tomatoes!  Eggplants, beans, zucchini....You can find them at plant centers, hardware stores. The Jewel has them too, along with hanging baskets of begonias. 

People feel an urgency to  be outside.  For some, this means working in the dirt, to feel warm earth in  their hands.

Maybe this happens every year about this time. but this year, there are 17-year cicadas emerging, too.  We have been waiting for them, here in Oak Park. I saw the first shells yesterday. Today, Sunday, I saw some in flight! 

I felt  graced by a creature that knows the warming ground, the feel of the trees, the urgency of life.  There is something ancient, primordial about them.  For a moment,  we share the same air, under the same sun.

Crossing into May

 

 Now come lovely May days.  Every day, more green.

Time for planning and planting.  Garden centers are busy.  Native plants are gaining in popularity-- milkweeds are part of butterfly gardens and meadow gardens.   

Take the time to admire the blooming trees and flowers, now---bluebells and Solomon Seal, violets and dandelions, the tiny bell-shaped flowers of the lily-of the valley, a  gift of luck on the first of May.  There are lilacs and the red bud trees, The arching branches of white flowers of spirea, sometimes called  bridal veil or meadow sweet. The buds of the  peonies will be blooming  at the end of May.

There are still colorful tulips, too. did you know there are early, mid-season, and late blooming varieties? Did you know the striped tulips are called Rembrandt tulips after the artist who pained them? 

We are a little over over halfway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice.  We have over 14 hours of daylight, now. According to the Wheel of the Year, May 1 is a cross- quarter day,  the beginning of summer and the growing season. 

On May 7,  there will be a new moon again, after the new moon and solar eclipse on April 8. The sun and moon move on.  Every day now is increasing daylight until the summer solstice.

And soon, there will be the emergence of cicadas,  No,  they don't bite or sting.  But  they have come to share this spring with us.  They too will have their time in the sun. 

Yellow like the sun

 

Our sun may be just one of billions, but it is our sun, and our eyes have opened to its light.  Our eyes have seen the moon eclipse the sun with its shadow.

After the eclipse, the moon moves on, approaching full moon again. And we too move on,  with our lives----bills and taxes, spring cleaning, projects and plans. 

These are the increasing days of daylight We have gained over 4 hours and 33 minutes of light since the winter solstice!   Sunrises will be before 6am, with dawn before 5:30am.  Sunsets are after 7:30 pm. 

 These are the days of dandelions, their yellow faces like the sun...

Eclipse Watch 2024

 This is a diagram of solar and lunar eclipses.  Eclipses don't happen every day, but they are predictable.  People  have known about the April 8 solar eclipse years before the Great American Eclipse of August 21, 2017. 

Why was the 2017 eclipse so special? According to Wikipedia---

The August 2017 eclipse was the first with a path of totality crossing the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of the U.S. since the solar eclipse of 1918. Also, its path of totality made landfall exclusively within the United States, making it the first such eclipse since the country's declaration of independence in 1776.

Do you remember the Post Office issued commemorative Eclipse stamps?  Do you remember then-President Donald Trump watching the eclipse on the White House balcony? No eclipse glasses for him!

It was a hot, hot summer day.  

In a way, the 2017 eclipse was a prelude to 2024---this time, the path of totality will be wider, extending  from Mexico to Canada.  The totality phase of the April 8 eclipse is expected to last twice as long as it did in 2017. 

The Chicago area will experience around  94% totality on Monday, April 8, 2024.  There will be over 4 minutes of darkness. 

Once again, Carbondale IL will be in the path of  100%  totality, like the  eclipse in  2017.  Millions of people will be going to some place along the path of totality---including  big cities  like Dallas, Little Rock, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Buffalo and Burlington, Vt.  

There will be traffic,  cell-phone disruptions,  Security and National Guard are on call.  Many schools are closing for the day. Motels and Airbnbs are all booked up already.  

Oh yes, there will be money being made that day--t-shirts and souvenir mugs that are temperature sensitive. Magnets, key chains, water bottles,  and more.

Things have changed since 2017.  That was before the plague, the 2020 election, January 6, 2021, wars in Ukraine and Gaza.  Those are the concerns of men. The cycles of the eclipses go on.

You can read more about the upcoming April 8 eclipse at Astronomy.com. 

Yes, they can predict eclipses,  but the weather is more uncertain. Will there be clouds along the path on April 8?   We'll see....

You can watch a live stream of the eclipse at NASA.com.

Also, at EarthSky