Finally, spring begins to unfold and this Moon (interchangeable with “month,” but runs from Full Moon to Full Moon) is the epitome of the season — bright, full of life and light — a time of rebirth and renewal. Rarely is this Moon really pink, but this is the time when moss phlox (phlox subulata), also called moss pink and creeping ground phlox flowers unfold in the northeast. Tribes further west in the Rockies, still mired in winter, called it ice breaking in the River Moon. Other common indigenous names for the Full Moon in April are Egg Moon, referring to birds laying their eggs and the Fish Moon, as fish return in numbers to northern waters. Don’t forget, spring is burgeoning everywhere in the northern hemisphere and all northern peoples had their names for this time, like the Celt’s Budding Moon and New Shoots Moon. To Slavic people, it was the Birch Moon. In China it was called the Peony Moon, which is interesting since most peonies will be pink. Again, all these names reflect a common theme — the return of life, light and warmth to the land. A major reason why the Full Pink Moon was so important was that it was the first Full Moon after the spring equinox, which marks the halfway point between the winter and summer solstices. Not only is it a major turning point in the year for native, traditional peoples, but it coincides with some of the holiest times of different cultures and religions. Passover begins with the Pink Moon, or Pesach Moon. Easter, the modern Christian holiday of resurrection (inspired by the ancient Celtic holy day of Eostre, which celebrated the rebirth of life), occurs on the first Sunday of what’s called the Paschal Moon. It is a special time — no matter how we celebrate it.
Why Waghkonk? — Every now and then I like to explain the origins of the title of these notes of mine. For many years, I wrote the Comeau newsletter, which initially started out as seasonal nature notes of the Town of Woodstock-owned Comeau property. That was a good thing and I learned a lot and really enjoyed it (fortunately, many of you also liked it), but I was exploring all over Woodstock and wanted to expand my nature-writing horizon. Studying 17th– and 18th-century maps of the area, I noticed that early maps referred to the eastern Woodstock Valley as “Waghkonk,” or sometimes “Awaghkonk.” While there is no definitive interpretation of this term, Algonquin language expert, professor of Native American studies, Evan Pritchard (www.algonquinculture.org) believes it means something like “Land of Waterfalls below the Sacred Mountain,” which sounds about right to me. My good friend Alf Evers, Woodstock’s retired long-time town historian and author of note, told me how Waghkonk became Woodstock. In 1764, Judge Robert R. Livingston, writing to his father, Chancellor Livingston (who owned most of what would become Woodstock and half of the surrounding region), and was wintering in Wachkunk (another variation on Waghkonk), scratched that name out and wrote in “Woodstock” instead (see “Woodstock — History of an American Town,” Alf Evers, pgs. 33, 34). Supposedly, this was the first actual use of Woodstock to refer to Waghkonk. Hence, these Waghkonk Notes. Hope you like them. (How close did we come to a “Waghkonk Festival?”)
Each of us a dancer — Indeed, our patience will pay off soon as the inexorable tide of new life wraps us in its soon-to-come green embrace. Life can’t wait. One way to look at all of this is to try to see the entire panoply of nature as an incredible ballet, each of us a dancer. Speaking of dancing, as we tip-toe along our spring trails, please remember that they will be muddy and this is the most important time for us to wear the right – waterproof — footwear and please stay on the trail. Walk straight down the middle, for if we stray, and walk around the trail, we enlarge the trail, making the trail-maintenance job much more difficult (by increasing destructive erosion), and, just as importantly, we increase the likelihood of destroying sensitive endangered/threatened spring ephemeral wildflowers just off trail that are on the verge of unfolding.
“Ranger” Dave Holden / woodstocktrails@gmail.com / Dave Holden on Facebook / rangerdaveholden on Instagram / www.woodstocknytrails.com
Join the family! 
