esrosedotblog

UNDERGROUND

This is from the website Spaceweather.com which I have been reading every day since one of my young interviewees turned me on to it.

Today, I am informed that we have a worm moon. Ever hear of that?

WORM MOON: According to folklore, tonight's full Moon has a special name--the Worm Moon. It signals the coming of northern spring, a thawing of the soil, and the first stirrings of earthworms in long-dormant gardens. Step outside tonight and behold the wakening landscape. "Worm moonlight" is prettier than it sounds.

I am not sure how they got here. I imagine that they have been here since before the desert went dry. We used to be underwater.

The smart ones live in the lawns and golf courses that get regular water. Darwin works for their survival as the weak minded or too adventurous of them crawl out on the hot sidewalk and, well, fry.

When I see them I put them back. If they are still moist and wiggling.

I have a long time fondness for worms of all kinds. When I was a kid, I kept an earthworm colony alive in a pot but they all died eventually. Earthworms need to wander and to explore. Just not out on the hot sidewalk.

I also kept mealworms in a jar. They didn't care. They liked it in there. They could lay their eggs and die and the eggs would rehatch. Every so often--yearly?--I would change the medium. Flour and bran.

I suppose that our earthworms work just like those back east. They are tuned to the the biological clocks that will have them stirring just about now.

I think that this is so because we do not have any earthworms on sidewalks (when it would be safe) from November until, well, about now.

I will look for them.

In the meantime we will enjoy the moon which seems especially bright just now. It is rising as it gets dark and setting just before dawn. Perfect timing.

Labels: astronomy, life