ON THIS DAY in 1934 is the birth of one of the goddesses of conservation, Jane Goodall. She was 26 years old in the summer of 1960, when she arrived on the shore of Lake Tanganyika in East Africa to study the area’s chimpanzee population. We are grateful every day that she stuck with it, and designate her a sister we admire. You know we do this on occasion, yes? No? Either way, please read on.

In 1977, was the founding of the Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research, Education and Conservation. They provide ongoing support for field research on wild chimpanzees. Its mission is to advance the power of individuals to take informed and compassionate action to improve the environment for all living things. The Institute is a leader in the effort to protect chimpanzees and their habitats and is widely recognized for establishing innovative community-centered conservation and development programs in Africa and the Roots & Shoots education program in more than 70 countries. Want to get involved? This is the place to visit, but don’t go alone. Take a child and make an introduction to one of the most admirable people in the world, Jane Goodall. Change a child’s life. And a chimp’s. www.janegoodall.org

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 piece on how I change my diet each month at the full moon, as well as at the new moon.

For the other sisters we admire, please see here.

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On this, the Vernal Equinox, the Sun rises exactly in the east, travels through the sky for 12 hours and sets exactly in the west. On the Equinox this is the motion of the Sun through the sky for everyone on earth, with all of us together experiencing the same 12 hours of sunlight. A lovely thing to ponder, maybe we should all consider how nature provides for us strong indicators of our sameness. We’ve just left winter, of course, as marked when the sun was its lowest path in the sky on the Winter Solstice. After that day the sun has been following a higher and higher path through the sky each day until it is in the sky, as it is today, for exactly 12 hours. After the Spring Equinox, the Sun continues a higher path through the sky, and days grow longer, until the Summer Solstice on June 21^st. Here in the northern hemisphere, let’s enjoy this first — and every day — of spring.

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 piece on how I change my diet each month at the full moon, as well as at the new moon.

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March 19, 2011 is the full moon, this month known as the Full Worm Moon. We take our full moon names from our Native American traditions, though the full moon of march has many other names as well as this one. Want to learn more?

The more northern tribes knew this Moon as the Full Crow Moon, since, as I’m sure you have noticed, the cawing of crows is everywhere and was believed to signal the end of winter. Another Native American name for this month’s moon is the Full Crust Moon, because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The name the Full Sap Moon refers to it being time to tap maple trees. The first American settlers called it the Lenten Moon, and considered it to be the last full Moon of winter. The Full Worm Moon, the most popular name, refers to this time of year when the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins. Now you know.

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 piece on how I change my diet each month at the full moon, as well as at the new moon.

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THE FIRST WOMAN to set foot on Antarctica did so today in 1935. Granted she was not the first person to set foot there — a man had stepped onto the continent more than a hundred years earlier, beginning what is known as the “heroic era” of Antarctic exploration — but we celebrate Caroline Mikkelson, who was accompanying her husband, Captain Klarius Mikkelsen, a whaling captain, on an expedition. And why not?

On this day in 1935, the expedition made landfall at the Vestfold Hills; she left the ship and participated in building a memorial cairn, which is a man-made pile of stones. In her honor the Caroline Mikkelson mountain of Antarctica is named. The natural world is filled with plants, birds, trees named for people, but a mountain is a lovely thing. But back to that cairn, which was found by members of the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions in 1960 but was lost for many years until its rediscovery in 1995. Caroline Mikkelsen was still alive in 1996 and received word of the rediscovery of the original flagpole. I love that story.

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 piece on how I change my diet each month at the full moon, as well as at the new moon.

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FULL SNOW MOON. That is the name of February’s full moon. We take our names for the full moon from the Native American tradition, and this one seems obvious, especially this year, when there has been so much snow, including in places that rarely sees such events as snowstorms. But this moon has also been known as the Full Hunger Moon, which addresses the tragic circumstances when something occurs to affect what food was put up for the winter, and supplies have run out, resulting in widespread hunger in the villages. And while the name of this month’s moon may need no explanation, maybe the moon’s position could use a little. Have you noticed that the moon’s position in the sky seems to change with the seasons?  The path changes as one month leads to the next having to do with the sun and the tilt of the earth. That being the case, full moons are very high in the sky at midnight between November and February and low from May to  July.

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 piece on how I change my diet each month at the full moon, as well as at the new moon.

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MARCH’S FULL MOON is on the 29th of the month. It is known as the Full Worm Moon. Why?

We get our full moon names from the Native American tradition, specifically from the area that is now the northern and eastern United States. In the early spring and fall, worm casts are deposited all through your lawn. You’ve seen them: they appear as little piles of mud. Also known as vermicasts, they are the mounds of earth left by the worms who are digesting and leaving behind matter.

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 piece on how I change my diet each month at the full moon, as well as at the new moon.

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THE LAST DAY OF FEBRUARY will bring the Full Snow Moon, rising at the eleventh hour and 38^th 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.

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THE NEW MOON was February 13^th, 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.

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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.

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AT THE SECOND HOUR and the 30^th 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.

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