Harvest Moon

Tonight is supposed to be the viewing of the harvest moon. The harvest moon was originally thought to be the time for farmers to be able to get their harvest in by working a little later, using the light of the large orange moon. It is cloudy here already but I'm not losing hope. It is always exciting to view this extra large glowing moon, sometimes looking more orange. Astrologists usually call celestial bodies reddish in glow when they are close to the earth. The warm color is caused by the atmosphere, light and color are just things we perceive to be true, like the moon illusion of it being so huge in the sky. The moon hasn't changed size or color but it sure is beautiful to view, especially on this special occasion. So we may have to enjoy our hot cider and hot chocolate and view it through the clouds if we are lucky enough to see any of it, but we can remember what a beautiful sight the moon was last night, clear sky and full white moon.

It would be a wonderful night for harvest stew but I wasn't lucky enough to find any good produce yesterday so my family will have a big pot of beef and noodles instead, enough to share with our company tonight. That is reason enough to celebrate the harvest moon.

I don't know if there are many books about the harvest moon for adults, but I have been a Tomie dePaola fan for many years and have read his books to my kids (long ago) so I thought I would include this book today. He's an artist that makes it look easy and has a charm about him that makes all ages want to see more.

Under the Harvest Moon
By Carl Sandburg

Under the harvest moon,
When the soft silver
Drips shimmering
Over the garden nights,
Death, the gray mocker,
Comes and whispers to you
As a beautiful friend
Who remembers.

Under the summer roses
When the flagrant crimson
Lurks in the dusk
Of the wild red leaves,
Love, with little hands,
Comes and touches you
With a thousand memories,
And asks you
Beautiful, unanswerable questions.