It’s an interesting time to speak about the Crow Moon in Colorado, especially as we’re expecting the end of a winter that, well, never really started. It’s been unusually warm in Colorado - we had 60-70 degree weather throughout December, January, and February. This past February was the 2nd ever without snow and this is one of the hottest, driest winters in known Colorado weather history. Our siblings on the East Coast have had a very, very different winter, having just been pummeled by a massive snow storm that has caused the most snowfall some places have seen in some years. As a Colorado local and someone who grew up here, it’s a little disturbing to have it be this warm and I can’t help but be a little envious of the snowfall of the East Coast. However, I know they were much more envious of our drier, non-dangerous, non-slippery roads last week.
This Crow Moon, I’ve been thinking about how to be prepared for a season that has already been upon us. Often times, things come a lot sooner than we expect, catching us off guard. The rhythm of the universe is not as precise as our Small Time, and our nature kin have already taken advantage of the warming of the season. Birds and rabbits have been out in Colorado and I’ve heard from my friends that they’ve cautiously moved their seedlings outside because the weather’s been so nice. It feels like I’m at the beginning of the race and missed when the starting gun went off. When we find ourselves waiting for a season that’s already started, what do we do?
For me, the temptation is to wait longer - whether it’s waiting to confirm that things are happening or waiting to figure out if I should even bother starting. If I’m already behind and I haven’t even begun, why bother? Or, even worse, if I should start now and things change, what would be the point of being even more behind? With the world’s rhythm being a little off, these questions are understandable.
I’ve also been thinking about how we are entering this spring season but we are ahead of others, mainly the East Coast. Maybe that’s why the rhythm feels particularly off - we are celebrating the same Crow Moon with very different experiences. While Colorado may have been consistently warm, the east coast is just thawing off and now is launching into unusually warm temperatures. What happens if a beginning is supposed to happen and things seem behind? What do we do when our community rhythms are not in sync?
Instead of waiting, I think this Crow Moon is asking us to adapt– on several levels. The cawing of Spring doesn’t mean that we’re late just because it happened earlier than expected. And if the cawing of Spring hasn’t happened yet, that doesn’t mean that it won’t. However, we need to be adaptable - paying attention to this strange season as we act. We can prepare for sudden changes in the season and prepare for when the season does change. Whether we’re playing catch up or waiting for things to start, adaptation has been a hallmark of what we in the middle realm do.
I think about this on a broader level as well - our rhythm as the United States has been, well, off. There’s been a lot of strange seasons, domestically and internationally. Are some of us seeing seasons of what might be coming in other cities, with recent bills being passed or clarified in Kansas and Texas? Is Minneapolis a crow’s call of the start of something more terrifying? We see breaking news about things that have been happening for a long time, making us feel even more behind on right action, on justice. And now we’re looking at a new season of uncertainty abroad.
Adapting seems to be the main strategy we have and, thankfully, it’s a strategy we’re good at. We’ve been going through Tower times for a long time now. We are lucky to know that we are not the first of our ancestors to encounter things like strange seasons, even if we are the first to encounter this particular strange season. And we are lucky to know that, even if our communities are experiencing different rhythms, we are still united in our shared humanity, our shared experience of living, and even our shared moon. We can share knowledge, share camaraderie, and help each other adapt.
This Crow Moon, wherever you are in the rhythm, I hope you find a way to adapt to wherever you need to be. With the start of things, whether they’ve begun before you’ve noticed or are still trying to begin, we can grow and sow seeds and begin our year knowing we can pivot as needed. Our ancestors have done this before us and we have community even if they’re not exactly in the same place. The Crow Moon asks us to start, even if we’re not sure what’s going to happen, knowing that we will figure it out along the way.
This Crow Moon, I’ve been thinking about how to be prepared for a season that has already been upon us. Often times, things come a lot sooner than we expect, catching us off guard. The rhythm of the universe is not as precise as our Small Time, and our nature kin have already taken advantage of the warming of the season. Birds and rabbits have been out in Colorado and I’ve heard from my friends that they’ve cautiously moved their seedlings outside because the weather’s been so nice. It feels like I’m at the beginning of the race and missed when the starting gun went off. When we find ourselves waiting for a season that’s already started, what do we do?
For me, the temptation is to wait longer - whether it’s waiting to confirm that things are happening or waiting to figure out if I should even bother starting. If I’m already behind and I haven’t even begun, why bother? Or, even worse, if I should start now and things change, what would be the point of being even more behind? With the world’s rhythm being a little off, these questions are understandable.
I’ve also been thinking about how we are entering this spring season but we are ahead of others, mainly the East Coast. Maybe that’s why the rhythm feels particularly off - we are celebrating the same Crow Moon with very different experiences. While Colorado may have been consistently warm, the east coast is just thawing off and now is launching into unusually warm temperatures. What happens if a beginning is supposed to happen and things seem behind? What do we do when our community rhythms are not in sync?
Instead of waiting, I think this Crow Moon is asking us to adapt– on several levels. The cawing of Spring doesn’t mean that we’re late just because it happened earlier than expected. And if the cawing of Spring hasn’t happened yet, that doesn’t mean that it won’t. However, we need to be adaptable - paying attention to this strange season as we act. We can prepare for sudden changes in the season and prepare for when the season does change. Whether we’re playing catch up or waiting for things to start, adaptation has been a hallmark of what we in the middle realm do.
I think about this on a broader level as well - our rhythm as the United States has been, well, off. There’s been a lot of strange seasons, domestically and internationally. Are some of us seeing seasons of what might be coming in other cities, with recent bills being passed or clarified in Kansas and Texas? Is Minneapolis a crow’s call of the start of something more terrifying? We see breaking news about things that have been happening for a long time, making us feel even more behind on right action, on justice. And now we’re looking at a new season of uncertainty abroad.
Adapting seems to be the main strategy we have and, thankfully, it’s a strategy we’re good at. We’ve been going through Tower times for a long time now. We are lucky to know that we are not the first of our ancestors to encounter things like strange seasons, even if we are the first to encounter this particular strange season. And we are lucky to know that, even if our communities are experiencing different rhythms, we are still united in our shared humanity, our shared experience of living, and even our shared moon. We can share knowledge, share camaraderie, and help each other adapt.
This Crow Moon, wherever you are in the rhythm, I hope you find a way to adapt to wherever you need to be. With the start of things, whether they’ve begun before you’ve noticed or are still trying to begin, we can grow and sow seeds and begin our year knowing we can pivot as needed. Our ancestors have done this before us and we have community even if they’re not exactly in the same place. The Crow Moon asks us to start, even if we’re not sure what’s going to happen, knowing that we will figure it out along the way.
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