Blue Moon

Today is New Year's Eve and tonight there will be a rare occurrence of a blue moon. This is a full moon that is not timed to a regular monthly pattern. Most years have 12 full moons that occur once a month. However, there are excess days in the solar calendar year, so every 2 to 3 years we get an extra full moon that we call a blue moon. That's where the metaphor saying "once in a blue moon" comes from, which is used to describe something that's rare or happens only occasionally. Not all blue moons actually look blue. A moon that looks blue is caused by dust or smoke particles in the atmosphere. The next blue moon isn't expected until August 31, 2012.

The picture above is not of a blue moon or even a full moon, but I thought I'd post it anyway. I took this one in Yellowstone National Park this summer. We had stopped so Rick could do some fly fishing in one of the rivers. It was getting late and right before we left, I snapped this picture. It's been cropped, of course, but I was surprised how well it turned out. I love pictures that show the craters on the moon like this.

When I think of the term blue moon, the song of the same name comes to mind. There are so many different versions of this song. Just off the top of my head I can think of versions by Elvis Presley, The Platters, Ella Fitzgerald, Chris Isaak, Sha-Na-Na, The Sacred Hearts, and more. They are all great versions. However, my all-time favorite is by The Marcels because it's just a little faster than most others. It goes like this ...