Blood Moon

It really is foreboding-looking isn't it?  Usually, we only get one orange moon, the "Harvest Moon", once a year -- and she is lovely.

But the moon has risen orange now for many a night over Meadow Sweet Grove.  The summer has been a hot one, a smoky haze hangs in the air during the day, the sun burns brightly orange through that haze at sunset (difficult to look at), and the moon rises orange, with incredible definition of its craters, waxing larger and larger each night.

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In the past, such an unusual occurrence, sometimes called a "Blood Moon", would have been seen as a warning - an ominous omen of bad things on the way.  But isn't such supposed superstition also a keen observation of natural events?  Right now we have multiple forest fires burning, several hours drive away from our city, which are the cause of our orange moon.  Perhaps before modern communication, a relay of runners would have been sent, in various directions, to neighbouring communities, to find out where the fires were located - and how close they were getting.

We tend to ignore such phenomena these days - or exploit it - but do not heed the warning it still portends.
                                                                                                                                 Meadow Sweet Grove © V. Buchanan 2017; edited 2023