To prepare for today’s column, I asked my computer what was important about the month of March. It answered, “The Vernal Equinox, the Full Worm Moon, and Daylight Savings Time.” No doubt because Easter more often “arrives” in April, my computer did not mention “Easter” (which comes on March 31 this year).
It also did not mention St. Patrick’s Day. Of the three mentioned, I know more than I want to know about the return of Daylight Savings Time, I know that the Vernal Equinox is the beginning of Spring, but I never heard of the Full Worm Moon before.
Being a cane-pole fisherman, I am very thankful for worms, and decided that’s what I would write on, — “the Full Worm Moon.”
However, I was a little disappointed my computer did not mention “St. Patrick’s Day.” Not that I have a drop of Irish blood in me, but my wife is full-DNA Irish, so marrying her qualifies me as Irish.
Not Everyone accepts as fact that St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland into the Sea.
So let’s go back to the worms.
Without a doubt, every farmer in the country knows this, but I did not!
They call this particular Full Moon “the Full Worm Moon” because it arrives at the time of Spring thaw, — when earthworms begin to stir forth from the frozen soil. You see, during a freeze, they bury deep, as much as six feet below the frost line, and do not emerge until the thaw.
Earthworms, covered with mucous, roll up in a ball, an action which keeps them from drying out. It also keeps them warm.
As a ball of slime, they are protected from the ravages of the winter cold.
It has been said that the earthworm is the farmer’s best friend, as this splendid creature aerates the soil, that is, it leaves many small holes of air behind. It also fertilizes the soil with its excrement. And I must add it provides good fish bait for farmers and non-farmers alike. If the stories of St. Patrick are true, I am glad he chased the snakes out of Ireland and not the worms, allowing Ireland to produce some great farmers.
As a pastor it always seemed odd to me when Easter would arrive in March.
But the date for Easter was set many years ago by the Nicene Council which declared Easter to be observed the first Full Moon after the Spring Equinox.
Ray Spitzenberger a retired WCJC teacher, a retired LCMS pastor, and author of three books, It Must Be the Noodles, Open Prairies, and Tanka Schoen.