Sam is a budding astronomer, and I really like a book we got from the library about the moon. At one point it shows a view of the earth from the moon, and that’s when Sam asked this question. Very insightful to realize that gibbous pertained to the shape, and that it was the earth far away, not the moon. Made me proud 🙂

Like many cultures, Hawaiians refered to the lunar phase for guidance about crops, fishing, tides, etc. Often, children are named for the lunar phase on the day of their birth. I looked ours up – Sam and I are both Kulua (a good day for planting, two days after the full moon). Ben is one day after the full moon – Mahealani. I well remember the full moon because we spent it walking around Tripler trying to advance labor! So “mahe” means hazy, “mahea” means becoming hazy or faint. I guess “lani” must have something to do with the moon 🙂 Very cool to understand a little more about the Hawaiian language, culture, and their relationship to the natural world. My brain only holds a spoonful at a time, but I keep trying to feed it!