Blue Moon Sadness

Hi, all -- I'm back to talk about the crazy things that happen when the moon is full.  

Our most recent full moon fell on the final day of August. It wasn’t just a full moon, it was a special full moon – a “blue moon.” If you’re like me, the phrase “blue moon” makes you think of song lyrics more than lunar calendars, so if you’re like me, you immediately hit the Google search to find out just what makes a moon so blue.

What I discovered is that there are two circumstances which cause a full moon to be declared blue. The first, as in our August 31^st moon, designates a moon “blue” if it’s the second full moon in a month. (In August, we had full moons on the 1^st and the 31^st .) The alternate definition applies when there are four full moons in a three-month season, in which case the third of the four full moons is considered “blue.” Why the third full moon and not the fourth? You got me, and it makes my head fog up to try to figure it out (…much like the whole space-time continuum pickle).

What I still can’t figure out, though, is why “blue,” a color synonymous with sadness or melancholy? Does having an extra full moon appear in a certain period of time alter our moods, make us shift into low gear, like that big rock’s gravitational pull on the seas to low tide?

I thought about that the next day. It was the first day of a nice, long weekend. I should have woken feeling refreshed and energized. Instead, I got up feeling foggy-brained, as if that moon had messed with my head during the night…or maybe it was the aliens. In any event, I rushed about my business, forgetting where I was going half the time and wondering what I was doing there once I arrived. I left my cell phone at home, my coupon clutch at the store, and by the end of the day, felt that I’d accomplished  nothing. One-third of my holiday weekend had vanished, leaving me with little to show for it. That left me feeling, well…blue.

I’m usually a happy person. I don’t like feeling blue, but if I find myself in that state, I try to do something to cheer myself up, like call my sister or a girlfriend who’ll make me laugh and forget about whatever it is making me sad. Sometimes, though, I’m so blue, I just need to indulge the feeling, if only for a little while.

So instead of calling my sister or a girlfriend that night, I zoned out watching videos on YouTube, and pretty soon I felt better, because what did I find but a video of my favorite singer performing one of my favorite ballads. 

If there’s anyone out there having a blue-moon night, give a listen to Toby Keith and this version of "Does That Blue Moon Ever Shine On You?". He understands. You might even laugh and forget about whatever is making you sad.

Leah writes stories of romance and suspense, and the enduring power of love. 

You can visit her at www.leahstjames.com.