Northern Exposures Photography

"Wolf Moon"

A full moon occurs when the moon is on the opposite side of the earth from the sun, so that the face of the moon is completely illuminated by sunlight.  Full moons rise around sunset and set near sunrise, the only day of the month when the moon is visible in the sky all night long.

The naming of full moons, correlating to the seasons, has been tradition dating back to the First Nations people of North America.   As European settlement occurred, they carried on the custom.  The full moon, which was observed yesterday, is known as the Wolf Moon in English lore.  Other names that it is known as include; Hunger, Storm or Candles Moon.  In the Algonquin First Nation people of Ontario, this moon is known as the Snow Moon.  This name of the moon in February coincides with the time of year where food may be scarce and heavy snowfalls experienced.

Full moons have traditionally been associated with insomnia or insanity (thus the terms lunacy and insanity), though there does not appear to be any consistent evidence to suggest these effects on humans, although numbers of people in the general population and those involved in law enforcement, health care and social workers may have a different opinion.

   Old barns like certain species of plants and animals are becoming “endangered”.  With the shift in the agricultural economy to large and intense operations, from the small family farms, large numbers of barns and homesteads are now abandoned.

As agriculture has progressed, the requirement for barn construction include; hydro, running water, heating, cooling and building materials with a longer life span than wood.   The old barns become neglected, increasing the maintenance and insurance costs substantially.  Additionally, the old barns housed animals in the winter that provided heat, ensuring the ground did not freeze.  As the animals were moved, this allowed the annual freeze and thaw cycles to begin, which is one of the key reasons barns are literally falling apart.

Perhaps a greater threat to the older barns is urban sprawl.  As populations increase, the demand for land for new housing and development is pressuring and competing with older agricultural areas for space.

There is a growing business for reclaiming the timbers and wood from old barns.  The wood is then used for flooring, mantels and timbers.  On rare occasions, the old barns are in a sufficient condition to be disassembled, moved to a new location and then raise the structure again to become the core of a new building and preserve a piece of history.