Once in a Blue Moon, and Other Lunacy

Driving home from work last night, I was treated to a display of nature’s beauty that was truly breathtaking.

As I steered my Sonata the 42 miles from the college to my home, the March full moon slowly, gracefully was revealed on the horizon, peeking inch by inch over the Tehachapi Mountains to the east. As the radiant globe sat on the horizon in its golden fullness, I thought about the moon and the science and folklore it has inspired.

I remembered watching, along with the rest of the world, back in the summer of 1969 as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin romped around the lunar surface. I thought of honeymoon and wondered where that word came from. I also thought about other folk wisdom inspired by the cold rock that circles our planet.

I thought about “the man in the moon” …

“Moon River, wider than a mile, I’m crossing you in style, someday” …

“I see a bad moon risin’” …

“Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone, without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own …”

So with this serving as inspiration, I went to the computer and searched for “full moon names.” The list I found is both interesting and amusing. According to The Farmer’s Almanac (www.farmersalmanac.com), the names were bestowed upon the months by the Native American tribes as a way of keeping track of the seasons. Here is their list:

January – Full Wolf Moon

February – Full Snow Moon

March – Full Worm Moon

April – Full Pink Moon

May – Full Flower Moon

June – Full Strawberry Moon

July – Full Buck Moon

August – Full Sturgeon Moon

September – Full Corn Moon or Full Harvest Moon

October – Full Hunter’s Moon or Full Harvest Moon

November – Full Beaver Moon

December – Full Cold Moon, or the Full Long Nights Moon.

So where does the Blue Moon come in. Well, it seems the lunar cycle is just 29 days long, which means every couple of years, there are 13 full moons, putting four full moons in a three month period or season. When that happens, the third full moon of the quarter is the “blue” moon.

Over the years, it seems that the definition of “blue moon” has been misinterpreted to mean the second full moon in a given month. But not every 13^th moon of the year is blue. When the fourth moon falls between the equinox and solstice, it is deemed “blue.” But occasionally, the 13^th moon of the year falls after the solstice or equinox, putting it outside the definition. That moon is just … well, extra.

Any way you look at the moon, though, one must admit it has a definite appeal to our imaginations. People are thought to behave differently during a full moon. In fact, the full moon was once thought to cause insanity! (That’s where we got the words “lunacy” and “lunatic”). The moon, it seems, is ingrained in the culture of the world it serves.

Lovers pledge their undying allegiance to one another by it. Poets are led to volumes of lyrical exposition by its golden visage. Scientists wonder about its past, present, and future. And “Old Blue Eyes” immortalized it in song:

“Fly me to the moon, let me swing among those stars …”

Crazy, man.