Once in a Blue Moon

As I approach my 75th birthday, I find myself remembering my mother’s clothesline, filled in early October with freshly washed summer cottons that she would fold and store over the winter season.  As she did when I was a child, I’ll spend a sunny October day gathering flannel shirts and winter sweaters—stored over the summer months in upstairs closets and clothes bags stocked with lavender sachets, cedar chips, and moth crystals—and hang them outdoors on our clothesline to drink in the fresh fall air.

In the Northern Hemisphere, October’s full moon is normally a Hunter’s moon—the first full moon of autumn. But this year, as we all well know, nothing is normal.  This October there are two full moons on the calendar.  The first was a brilliant Harvest Moon on October 1.  Four days later, it was still lighting up the night sky and clearly visible in the early morning hour when Kit do our laps around the meadow at Boomerang Creek.  

The second full moon of this October, a Hunter’s Moon, will be shining full and bright in the western sky on Halloween.   Two full moons in the same month happens only “once in a blue moon.”  This year, one that has had more than its share of dark moments and angst, I welcome this double dose of healing moonlight that happens only once in a blue moon.

Given the restrictions of Covid-19, I don’t anticipate trick-or-treaters along our gravel road this year.  Instead, I will be out in the meadow looking up into the vast universe lit by a blue moon. Standing under its light, I will reflect on the phases of the moon and changing cycle of the seasons. I will listen for the 8-9 note hooting of our resident barred owls—sounds described as “Who cooks for you?”  And I will send forth thanks for this year’s abundance of October light that inspires hope that positive changes are on the way.