Chapter 230405: Flambé’s latest Misadventure ………………. April Full “Pink” Moon

April 5, 2023.  The April Full “Pink” Moon

“An egg is always an adventure; the next one may be different.” -Oscar Wilde

Well, that’s turned out to be the understatement of the month! Read Flambé’s full post to learn why her Misadventure resulted in a colorful twist!

Flambé is planning a casual moonlight stroll on the night of Wednesday, April 5th. She finds evening snack snatching a cinch under a Full Moon, but is unquestionably intrigued. Why? She’s learned the Full Moon is supposed to be pink! No way!  Because birds seem to have an ability to see the color pink (weird, huh?), Kat’s invited a local family of waddling, quacking ducks to the party; 10 of them have agreed. When they heard what was up (like a Full Pink Moon), they simultaneously queried …… 

“But what hue, tone, tint or shade of pink will this Full Moon be!!??” 

There was a lot of animated duck-speak happening all at once, with each squabbling over their favorite color choices.  The racket was deafening but Kat listened carefully to this debate, astounded at the number of possibilities.  

“The Full Moon will be petal pink, misty or blush pink.”   “No, no! It will surely rise as a sandy pink, pastel pink or look like a cherry blossom!”    “Absolutely not! The pink will be a thistly dusty hue.”   “Orchid pink, hot pink or a deep pink ….. surely one of these!”   “The pink will look like a flying flock of flamingos!”

One thing was clear as they all waited for the moment of moon rise …… not a single duck was in agreement!

Then the horizon began to brighten and glow, shimmer and shine. The dusk sky, awash in pale pink, quickly intensified in saturation beyond expectations, making way for the rise of the most unusually shaped Full Moon ever witnessed.  Not only were those ducks shocked to see such an outrageous pink color, but became “quackless” by the familiar shape of April’s Full Moon. Could it be possible? Is that our Full Moon rising or a gigantic, oval-shaped Fuchsia colored duck egg! 

While the ducks were instantly thrown into nest building behavior, Flambé wanted to know more about this so called “Pink” Moon shaped like a duck egg.

Why is April’s Full Moon Called the “Pink” Moon?

In reality, the name “Pink” has nothing to do with the Moon’s color; in reality, it’s not quite as mystical or awe-8inspiring as the Full Moon part animals thought. In truth, April’s Full Moon usually corresponded with the early springtime blooms of a wildflower native to eastern North America, the creeping or moss phlox (Phlox subulata), also known as “moss pink.” So it was this seasonal association that inspired this Full Moon to be called the “Pink” Moon.

Alternate April Full Moon Names (or why 10 ducks and Kat were hallucinating)

Intuitively, alternate names for this Full Moon were tied to Spring.  A few commonly used by Native Americans were:  Breaking Ice Moon (Algonquin) and Moon When the Streams Are Navigable (Dakota) each referencing melting ice and the increased mobility of early Spring; Bedding Moon of Plants and Shrubs (Tlingit) and Red Grass Appearing (Oglala), to note the beginning of plant growth.  Egg Moon was commonly used along with other names signifying the reappearance of certain animals, such as: Moon When the Ducks Came Back (Lakota), Moon When the Geese Lay Eggs (Dakota), and Frog Moon (Cree). And then there’s Sucker Moon (Anishinaabe), marking the harvest time of year when sucker fish return to streams and shallow lakes to spawn.

Until next month and our next Full Moon, don’t forget to look up!

As always, Flambé invites you to follow her Zentangle-inspired antics (ZIAs) by visiting her page called Tangled Up, to see what trouble she always seems to find, past and present.