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Summer’s arrival and moons

By Merrill Ogden - | Jun 22, 2022

If you weren’t paying attention, you may not have noticed that summer officially began this week on Tuesday the 21st of June. Summer usually brings hot weather. We seem to have been experiencing all kinds of weather lately.

It’s been hot. And, it’s been cool. And then there has been the wind. The wind over the weekend was crazy.

I was at a cemetery graveside service in Richfield for my sister-in-law, Judi Ogden. Gusty wind just about blew us out of the cemetery.

Some of you older, long-time Sanpeters may remember Judi. Her maiden name was Johnson. She was the daughter of Aden and Royce Johnson of Moroni. She was a character – a woman brimming with personality. Her obituary is titled “The Crazy Red Head has left the building.” (if you’re interested, see it here: https://www.maglebymortuary.com/obituary/Judith-Ogden)

I’ve been noticing the summer moon these past few days. Sanpete is a terrific place for moon watching. Not long ago we had the full “Strawberry Moon.” It was a smallish moon because it’s further away from the earth right now in its orbit. Super moons occur every now and then. They seem huge. Those are the full moons when the moon is closest to the earth.

I’ve been reminded that each full moon in each month has a special name. Some moons have several names. Many of the names come from the Native Americans. The “strawberry moon” was the June moon because it was full when the strawberries were ripe.

Next month, the July moon is known as the “Full Buck Moon.” That’s when buck deer get their antlers. Other names for this moon are Full Hay Moon and Full Thunder Moon. Just think, if the early Indians had had television, there would most likely be fewer cool names for the full moons. Maybe we should be doing more moon watching and less TV watching.

However, I will admit, that I have seen portions of that reality show on the Discovery Channel, which seems to combine a version of “moon watching” and television. The show is called “Naked and Afraid.”

This series is in its 14th season. Occasionally the “moons” and other sundry body parts have need of being blurred or blocked out on the show

The description of the show reads, “Each week on Naked & Afraid, a new pair of strangers must learn to survive together for 21 days with no food, no water, no tools … and no clothes.”

This sounds a little bit like the Boy Scout camps I went on back in the mid-’60s. We didn’t have to scrounge for food and water though. And we were only gone for a week. And we also had clothes – except for those occasional times we went swimming in the lake. Other than manipulation for TV ratings, I don’t quite “get” the no clothes component for that TV show.

The thing that I think viewers often forget when watching reality, “out in the wild,” survival type shows is that a few feet away from the action of bug and snake eating is a camera crew and other television production people. The crew is probably comfortable (and fully clothed) and eating catered food, while the contestants are starving to death and scrounging in the jungle for something to wear.

So, anyway – astronomically, summer has arrived in Sanpete. Some people wonder what there is to do in the summer. Here are some of my recommendations:

Ten Things to do in Sanpete in the summertime: Swimming, Hiking, Camping, Time in the Yard and Garden, Fishing, Horseback Riding, Going to the Drive-In Movies, Bicycle Riding, Four-Wheeler Riding, Picnics and Barbeques.

Before mixing “getting naked” with any of the above activities, I recommend careful consideration and thought. Regardless of how tempting it might be, I can see possible scenarios with each of those activities that would result in less than desirable results. I believe there’s a reason that the word “Afraid” in in the title of that TV show “Naked and Afraid.” And, I believe that word is justified. In any case – Enjoy your summer! — Merrill

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