Super Harvest Moon

The first day of Fall 2010 was also the full moon.  The first full moon in the fall is known as the “Harvest Moon” and when the full moon falls on the first day of Fall, it is known as a “Super Harvest Moon.”

Like most all of nature’s wonders, the full moon, especially full moons associated with specific seasons, can be sights of both wonder and beauty.  It is a different type of beauty but beauty nevertheless.  Similar to the difference in beauty between the beauty of an antique Persian rug and the beauty of finely crafted furniture or the beauty of a painting by DaVinci versus the beauty of something painted by Renoir.

Just as the beauty of the vintage rug can show the colors and artistry of the weaver, so the beauty of the fall moon can show the contours of the land with the moon shadows both hiding and revealing aspects of the world quite different from that shown by the brightness of the sun.

The Harvest Moon was celebrated as a time that allowed older cultures to do the work necessary to complete the harvest of the grain or produce prior to the start of the colder weather.  The colder weather with the shorter days and longer nights may well have been the time when the antique Persian rugs were woven as the weaver and others in the family needed something to occupy their time when the weather may not have been the best.  After the harvest moon, the days were getting shorter and the nights longer in the Northern Hemisphere and it signaled that the cold winds were on their way.

Nowadays, the Harvest Moon is primarily a signal that schools are in full operation, the football season is going strong and the baseball season is winding down with “magic numbers” being counted down.  The Harvest Moon has been the subject of Broadway show tunes and rock and roll records.

One thing that most everyone can admit is that the Harvest Moon has been a signal for centuries.  People may not know exactly what has been signaled, maybe a signal from the land or a signal from the universe, but it is a signal.  The Earth turns and after the Harvest Moon, people in the United States know that Halloween then Thanksgiving and the rest of the holiday season are right around the corner.

So people enjoy the beauty of the harvest moon as they wait for the winter storms to come along some of them rest their feet on the antique Persian rug in front of the fireplace, with beauty all around.