Snow Moon

Hunger Moon · Storm Moon

In North America, February is statistically the snowiest month of the year, and the almanacs named its moon accordingly. Its other name is harder. It tells the same season as seen from an empty larder: the hunger moon, when game lay low and people counted what was left in the granary.

It was said to be the moon of long evenings by the fire. The storm outside, the provisions stretched thin within. By late February the days are already lengthening, yet the cold reaches its deepest. The old folk knew that light always returns before warmth does.

“A snow year, a rich year,” says the old proverb. Snow shields the seedlings from frost and gives its water back to the soil, slowly.