by marionroach on February 28, 2010
THE LAST DAY OF FEBRUARY will bring the Full Snow Moon, rising at the eleventh hour and 38th minute of the day. As with all full moons, the name comes from the Native American tradition. This name is fairly self-explanatory, though among some Native American people, February’s full moon was known as the Full Hunger Moon since winter conditions can make hunting very difficult. How do I know this? I write and record the daily almanac piece entitled The Naturalist’s Datebook, heard exclusively on Martha Stewart Living Radio, Sirius 112/XM 157. Listen up. And see my other TSP almanac pieces here, including a recent piece on how I change my diet at the full moon, as well as at the new moon, each month.
by marionroach on February 16, 2010
THE NEW MOON was February 13th, and as I do at each new moon, I changed diets. Why? Because it seems to control my otherwise crazy hormone-related mood swings. And twinges. And joint pain, and any former inflammation-related flare-ups. And I do this whether or not anyone else believes in this. I do it for me. My best friend gives me a lot of grief about this. He swears it can’t work. He swears it’s crazy, but he’s not a woman, so he doesn’t know what a little moon shine can do for a woman. And when will I change to my other diet? On the Full Snow Moon, of course, the full moon of February, which this year occurs on February 28. Want to know more? It’s all right here.
by marionroach on February 5, 2010
DANCING ON TABLETOPS? And why not? On February 5, 1959 Marilyn Monroe, Karen Blixen, and Carson McCullers had lunch. Oh yeah, Arthur Miller was there, too. Taking place in Nyack, New York, the event was hosted by McCullers in honor of the great Karen Blixen, whose pen name, of course, is Isak Dinesen (Out of Africa). The menu consisted of soufflé, oysters, grapes and champagne. After lunch there was dancing. On the table top. On the solid marble table top, to be specific. Or so I’ve read. And I love every word.
by marionroach on December 2, 2009
AT THE SECOND HOUR and the 30th minute of today, the moon was officially full. December’s full moon is known as the Full Cold Moon, a name we have taken from the Native American tradition. It is also known as the Full Long Nights Moon, because during the month of December, when winter cold fastens its grip, the midwinter night is indeed long, and the Moon is above the horizon for a long time. The midwinter full Moon has a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite a low Sun. Yet another name for this moon is the Moon before Yule, which makes perfect sense, of course. This December we actually have two full moons, this one, and one on December 31, which this year will officially be called the Full Long Nights Moon. How do I know this? I write and record the daily almanac piece entitled The Naturalist’s Datebook, heard exclusively on Martha Stewart Living Radio, Sirius 112/XM 157. Listen up. And see my other TSP almanac pieces here, including a recent piece on how I change my diet at the full moon, as well as at the new moon, each month.
by marionroach on November 1, 2009
NOVEMBER SECOND WELCOMES the full moon of November, called the Full Beaver Moon. We get our names for our full moons from the Native American tradition, this one because it signals the time before the swamps froze in which set out sufficient beaver traps to ensure having enough pelts to keep warm all winter. It’s also possible that this moon was so-named to mark that time of year when beavers are very active, as in “busy as a beaver,” preparing as they are—as we all are—for winter. How do I know this? I write and record the daily almanac piece entitled The Naturalist’s Datebook, heard exclusively on Martha Stewart Living Radio, Sirius 112/XM 157. Listen up. And see my other TSP almanac pieces here, including a recent piece on how I change my diet at the full moon, as well as at the new moon each month.
by marionroach on October 19, 2009
THE NEW MOON IS UPON US, and as I do every new moon, I change what I eat. Crazy? Better to call me a lunatic, since that relates to the moon, and so do I, when twice a month I get in sync with that the moon is doing and in doing so, lessen those stubborn, persistent womanly symptoms that kick up or kick in or just plain drag you down. [click to continue…]
by marionroach on October 7, 2009
OCTOBER SEVENTH IS THE BIRTHDAY of one of my favorite writers, Diane Ackerman, whose observations of nature have delighted millions of readers for many years. A recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, Orion Book Award, John Burroughs Nature Award, and the Lavan Poetry Prize, as well as being honored as a Literary Lion by the New York Public Library, she even has the rare distinction of having a molecule named after her, called dianeackerone. Ackerman’s essays about nature and human nature have appeared in The New York Times, Smithsonian, Parade, The New Yorker, National Geographic. I love A Natural History of the Senses, although who can resist her An Alchemy of Mind, Cultivating Delight: A Natural History of My Garden; The Rarest of the Rare and The Moon by Whale Light? My kind of woman, she once put a bat on top of her head to see if it would really get tangled in her hair. It didn’t. How do I know this? I write and record the daily almanac piece entitled The Naturalist’s Datebook, heard exclusively on Martha Stewart Living Radio, Sirius 112/XM 157. Listen up.
by marionroach on September 22, 2009
IT’S THE EQUINOX. Today marks what is known as the Autumnal Equinox, that time of year when the wonderful sun crosses the celestial equator and moves southward. This officially marks the beginning of Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. [click to continue…]
by marionroach on August 31, 2009
I’LL FOLLOW THE SUN, is the popular Beatles’ lyric, and while I love the song, as well as its distinctly male point of view, it’s not mine. Or yours, probably, since women are oh-so-very-lunar.
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by marionroach on August 17, 2009
Margaret's cat, Jack, sticks his tongue out if you laugh at his weasel-tail collection.
CAT NIGHTS COMMENCE. August 17 brings us what are known as the Cat Nights, a brief period when cats are said to be particularly yowly. Is that so? We’ll have to ask Margaret, since she’s the cat-woman. Me, I’ve got the dog. “Cat Nights” is a term that comes to us from a time when many people believed in witches, and when it was thought that while a witch could turn into a cat and regain herself eight times, on the ninth time, August 17, she couldn’t change back. The result of this tradition is our saying, “A cat has nine lives.” How do I know this? I write and record the daily almanac piece entitled The Naturalists’s Datebook, heard exclusively on Martha Stewart Living Radio, Sirius 112/XM 157. Listen up.
THE LAST DAY OF FEBRUARY will bring the Full Snow Moon, rising at the eleventh hour and 38th minute of the day. As with all full moons, the name comes from the Native American tradition. This name is fairly self-explanatory, though among some Native American people, February’s full moon was known as the Full Hunger Moon since winter conditions can make hunting very difficult. How do I know this? I write and record the daily almanac piece entitled The Naturalist’s Datebook, heard exclusively on Martha Stewart Living Radio, Sirius 112/XM 157. Listen up. And see my other TSP almanac pieces here, including a recent piece on how I change my diet at the full moon, as well as at the new moon, each month.
First time here? Here's the idea: 
No surprise, really, that sisterhood, often life’s longest relationship and always one of its most important, has been the Muse for so much creative self-expression by women, and also by men. 
As the suffix of its name suggests, 
