“The harvest moon hangs round and high

It dodges clouds high in the sky,

The stars wink down their love and mirth

The Autumn season is giving birth.

Oh, it must be October…”

~Pearl N. Sorrels, “It Must Be October”

The skies were just beginning to clear making way for our famous beautiful blue skies and perfect weather of October. Last Friday, smoke once again billowed over the San Gabriel Mountains. As the sun became obscured an eerie orange shadow fell across the foothills. Thankfully it was from a controlled burn. I’m not a big fan of the color orange; an exception is made for poppies, oranges and pumpkins.

Several evenings ago, when Brighton was taking us on our nightly walk through the neighborhood, a full moon was rising over the mountains to the east. It was an ideal evening for visiting with neighbors. The air was desert-like and breezy and moonlight illuminated our path. Eavesdropping is made difficult with social distancing. Still, it didn’t prevent me from hearing a friendly chinwag between neighbors out walking their pups.

“Look at that moon! I heard it’s a blue moon.” “Maybe or is it the harvest moon?” Tails kept wagging, too, as we continued on by.

What actually are the blue and harvest moons? Every year, the first full moon closest to the autumnal equinox in the northern hemisphere is referred to as the harvest moon. In autumn the moon’s orbital path makes a narrower angle with the evening horizon. All this translates into brighter and more continuous light from the sky (moonlight directly following sunset). Back in the days before light bulbs, this change was crucial as farmers relied on moonlight to assist during harvesting. Crops ripen all at once in late summer and early autumn, plus the onset of winter would be looming, so farmers found themselves rushing to get crops in. Moonlight became an essential part of farming. Fields illumined in lunar light turned the frenzy into success. Thus the term harvest moon was born.

The term “Once in a blue moon” means not very often. In truth, blue moons are fairly common and a blue moon has nothing to do with the color of the lunar body. Instead, it is all about the timing of full moons during the year. Misinformation in a 1940 magazine gave us the now accepted meaning. A blue moon is the second full moon within a one-month period. It’s meaning, for us, is a full moon on Halloween!

Cooler weather, including a tiny chance for rain, is the weekend forecast. Come Monday, hold onto your hats because the Santa Ana winds are blowing into town … once again.

Sue Kilpatrick is a Crescenta Valley
resident and Official Skywarn Spotter for the
National Weather Service Reach her at suelkilpatrick@gmail.com.

  Sue Kilpatrick