by Luckyraja

Created on: October 08, 2009   Last Updated: October 14, 2009

Growing up in Appalachia is an experience I treasure. My mother and grandmothers were my "guiding lights", and they instilled numerous beliefs and ideals that had been passed down to them through generations of their grandmothers before. I spent hours with these fine ladies while they cooked, canned, cleaned, sewed, and quilted. Sunday afternoon memories were created while lounging in the backyard, after church (my daddy was a preacher and this was a requirement) and those wonderful home-cooked fried chicken dinners. Every child should be so lucky to grow up in this kind of environment...through it all, I hung onto every word of the family gossip and those "old-wives tales"...you remember, that endless supply of information about everything!

It has been ongoing with me and situations in my life that require answers to questions and problems that arise...I immediately search through my mental memory base for those "tried and true" tidbits I have tucked away for reference. Along with the "old-wives" tales are many phrases that have survived throughout endless generations: "Speak of the devil" is a popular one spoken when the person you are talking about shows up..."Knock on wood" is another you can quote to make sure a good thing will continue after you speak the words.

Foremost in my mind is the catchy phrase "once in a blue moon". These words can help describe many circumstances in life and also answer a question. For instance, if someone says "I don't see him except once in a blue moon"...then you know it's been ages since the last sighting of said person. With my parents, the tone of voice would let you know their true feelings when using this magical phrase. No matter how it was used, "once in a blue moon" spoken about a subject would usually produce the same results with me. For several nights I would utilize my sky-gazing abilities and watch for that "blue moon" I so desperately wanted to see! I am supposedly grown up now and I have found answers to explain that mesmerizing phrase. Let me explain it to you...

The Farmers Almanac defines "Blue Moon" as an extra full moon that occurs in a season. A season usually consists of three full moons. If there are four full moons the third one is termed "blue moon". Most years have twelve full moons, occurring monthly, and in addition to those twelve full lunar cycles there is an excess of approximately eleven days. The extra days accumulate with that extra full moon showing up every two or three years. Folklore-modern term for old-wives tales in my world-gave each moon a name to coincide to the time of year. A moon that came too early had no name and so "blue moon" became this extra moon's name, allowing correct seasonal timings for the future moons. Recent definition describes a "blue moon" as the second full moon in a month...an interpretation error made in the 1940's and not discovered until 1999.

No matter that, the definition could take away some of the magic of the words...I won't allow that! And as for the next "blue moon"...on November 21, 2009, gaze upwards and believe!

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