Health & Fitness
Once In a Blue Moon...
As we started August with a full moon, we can also look forward to ending the month with another one. Welcome to the only blue moon until 2015.
We have all heard the stories and old wives' tales about things to expect during a full moon. I know firsthand - as a retired high school teacher - that I, personally (and many of my friends) tried hard not to schedule tests on full moon days or have projects due. Also, the halls seemed to produce more noise and fights during those periods than other times of the month.
A writer friend, Eileen Dreyer, a former ER trauma room nurse, said that they, at the hospital, "girded their loins" during the full moon. More babies seem to be born, more fights, more accidents oddly seem to occur during this period.
And, lucky us, we have two full moons in the month of August, thus making the August 31 event a 'blue moon'. The next time we have two full moons in one month will be July, 2015, according to LiveScience.com.
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Some are skeptical of the moon's influence over humans, but I, for one, am not. It only makes sense. The moon impacts tides. Tides are water. Humans are over 50% water, on average, so it makes sense that the moon could, and does, also control the water in us as well.
A blue moon isn't really blue. It is usually the moon's normal color. It wasn't until 1883 that a volcanic eruption on Krakatoa caused the second full moon in a month to look blue, hence naming this phenomenom.
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We have used the saying "In a blue moon" and variations thereof to mean 'Don't count on me doing that soon". In pop culture, who didn't sing along to one of the renditions of "Blue Moon" It was written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in the 1930s, and suffered through many different incarnations before receiving its iconic lyrics. Besides the probably best known doo-wop version by the Marcels in 1961, it also had covers by Mel Torme, Elvis, Rod Stewart and Eric Clapton. It even makes an appearance in the musical Grease.
Less well known is the duet "Once in a Blue Moon" in the musical Little Mary Sunshine, which is a funny parody of the "Mountie" movies of the 1930s.
When we hit the 'blue moon' on August 31, most area schools will be in session, and local hospitals will be prepared for whatever comes their way.
Maybe I should change my ringtone - which everyone dislikes anyway - to a rendition of "Blue Moon". At least through the month of August. If you can't beat it, just 'go with the flow', as they say!