Hi frens! 🌝
🎨Today I painted a full moon, and it got me thinking about how special June’s full moon is. You might have heard it called the “Strawberry Moon” —but that’s not because of its color! According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, it’s called like that because it's “when the strawberry harvest took place.” 🍓
Fun fact:
“A Moon usually appears reddish when it’s close to the horizon because the light rays must pass through the densest layers of the atmosphere.”

In Europe, June’s full moon has also been called the “Rose Moon” or even the “Honey Moon,” since it’s the time of the first honey harvest.
According to UK archaeologist and historian Jennifer Wexler in Sky At Night Magazine this year’s Strawberry Moon is extra special because it’s part of a “major lunar standstill,” or lunistice—a rare event that only happens every 18.6 years! During this period, the moon’s path across the sky reaches its most extreme points, making moonrises and moonsets appear unusually far apart. After 2025, we won’t see a standstill like this again until 2043, so this is a once-in-a-generation chance to catch the lowest full moon.
But what is a full moon, anyway?
“A full moon rises around sunset and sets around sunrise. The Moon will appear full for a couple of days.”

Here’s my watercolor painting of the full moon. I love how magical it looks—there’s something mysterious and humbling about it, and it’s just mesmerizing to catch it (almost) every night in the sky.
💠Were you able to see the Strawberry Moon this year? I’d love to hear about it!
See you soon, frens.

Godspeed! 🌕