Above, you see last night’s full moon rising behind a spruce ridge. Bdelow, you’ll see it riding high above Great Cove. This May full moon is known traditionally as the Flower Moon, a name used by the Algonquin people because it rises when early blooms are appearing.
European colonists here reportedly also called it the Milk Moon and Mother’s Moon because it rises when the cows were taken to summer pastures, which was also the time of spring fertility.
This 2026 May moon is special for two reasons. First, it’s a micromoon (or “apogee moon”) because it is at its farthest distance from Earth (almost 250,000 miles). Second, it’s part of an uncommon double-ender as far as full moons go: There will be a second May full (“blue”) moon on May 31. (Images taken from Brooklin, Maine, on May 1, 2026.)