Spring Fever and the Last Full Moon of Winter

Suffering the effects of Spring Fever?

Liz Fuller of More Than We Know has been writing an excellent series of posts about the negative symptoms of Spring Fever and how to deal with them.

I haven't been suffering at all from lack of focus, which is unusual for me. (And I'm not entirely sure where the recent bout of focus has really come from, but I'm happy to go with it!) I'm certainly not suffering from boredom (Liz's final symptom, unposted as yet), but then I never suffer from boredom ... I wish I had the time to be bored, sometimes. Comparison-itis? Again, no. And again, this is something I often suffer from. But I've been too focused on doing what I'm doing to find any time to make comparisons. I'm generally impatient, not with people but definitely with things.

But the thing I relate to most in Liz's series of posts, is the restlessness of Spring Fever.

I always feel restless in Spring. Ready to be doing things, rushing hither and thither like the birds building their nests. Bouncing erratically around the place with no idea what I'm doing or where I'm going, like the lovely newborn lambs in the fields. Mad as a March hare, to be sure.

But this year, perhaps because I already feel I have built up some momentum in one direction, the start of Spring has simply given me a boost of energy and excitement.

I've always loved the fresh energy of Spring, it's so full of hope and expectation and the miracle of new life. I love 'unwrapping' the garden in Spring: clearing the leaves and twigs and overgrown grasses from flowerbeds, to find small green shoots peeping through.

Spring is all about energy and action, the very word carries an energy, like the 'spring' of "Springing into action."

The change of weather brings a change of clothes, brings a change of outlook/mood.

But.

How many times did I hear something yesterday along the lines of, "Bloomin weather! I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt yesterday and I've had to put my coat and scarf on again today!"

Yes, but it is only just Spring, only just April. The weather yesterday (crisp, breezy, damp) was just about right for this time of year. I think we've been lulled into a false sense of security recently, by mild winters and early springs - plants flowering earlier, earlier lambs ... there were lambs in fields before the end of January in Derbyshire (albeit with little snuggly coats on!)

The March Full Moon, which fell less than two weeks go, was known as the Full Crust Moon, the final Full Moon of winter. (See below for more names for March's Full Moon.) The Farmer's Almanac explains that, "The more northern tribes knew this Moon as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter; or the Full Crust Moon, because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night."

Mind you, I suppose a lot depends on where you are - Derbyshire is not very far from North Yorkshire, but there is a distinct difference in the temperature, the wildlife and the botany.

Ways to make the most of Spring:

1. Assess the goals/intentions you started the year with, and how far along the path towards (or away from) them you have come.

2. Spend some time in Nature. Take long walks, go birdwatching, help out on a local farm, or simply spend some time contemplating the wonders of Spring, the way in which everything that has seemed dead for months is now beginning life again.

3. Grow some flowers in your garden or on your windowsill. Bring a bunch of sunny daffs inside or put some in a pot on your doorstep.

4. Spring clean. Your house, your desk, your mind, your expectations, your life ... dust down anything that could do with some new life breathing into it. Shake things up a bit.

:o)

More from the Famer's Almanac: March's Full Moon is also known as the Full Worm Moon "as the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. To the settlers, it was also known as the Lenten Moon, and was considered to be the last full Moon of winter."

NASA's Imagine the Universe! lists the march Full Moon, as the Sugaring Moon.

krcool@hiwaay has a long list of Full moon names, including:

Fish Moon (Colonial American)

Sleepy Moon (Chinese)

Windy Moon (Cherokee)

Moon of Winds (Celtic)

Chaste Moon (English Medieval)

Moon When Eyes Are Sore From Bright Snow (Dakota Sioux)

:o)