...moonstruck

though my moon phase widget says it was full on 12/01...
the official full moon is 12/02...

the next official full moon is 12/31...
making this the first month in 2 years with 2 full moons...
[the last month with 2 was June, 2007...]

like many people, I always always erroneously thought...
that the 2nd full moon in a month was a "blue moon"...
this recent [since 1946...] misuse of the term...
came from a misinterpretation of the Farmer's Almanac...

actually, to be a true "blue moon", in the historical context...
a full moon had to be the third of four in a season...
3rd, because the 4th had a specific name...
as did the 1st & 2nd, so only the 3rd could be considered "unusual"...
even though it was the 4th that was the unique occurrence...

having 2 full moons in a month is a product of our more modern calendars...
and we no longer have an agrarian society...
where seasonal abnormalities are important...
so I suppose while the old formula is more correct historically...
we can expand our definition to include the common modern usage...

and since in it's common usage...
something occurring, "once in a blue moon"...
refers to the uniqueness of the occurrence...
it really doesn't bother me to think...
of the full moon on 12/31/09 as a blue moon...