Corn is in the Silk Moon

It's the month of ripe plums (Shawnee), black cherries (Assiniboine) and black berries (Wishram) staining our fingers and lips. The silk tassels on top of the corn husk are turning brown (Ponca), signalling the corn is ripe for the picking (Algonquin). While this year's geese are beginning their first migration (Cree), summer is coming to a close (Kalapuya.) The Hopi consiser this month of abundant harvest the Month of Joyful, or Month of Life at it's Height. It's the month where we all reap what we have sown, humbled by the luck of the forces of nature that helped or hindered your work along the way. For some, it is a joyful month, for others who have had a cold dry summer, it is one of the most bitter.