We stood on a small hill Friday night, Tom and I, waiting for the Blue Moon to make its appearance.
This hill is just a small rise in a neighborhood down the road. A weathered asphalt road, gated at the bottom, winds to the top. I guess someone planned to build a home up there, where you have a 360 view of the hills and lake all around, but then changed their mind. The top is flat, but house-less.
I'm grateful to the owners, whoever and wherever they are, for hanging on to the hill and keeping it vacant for respectful trespassers like me and Tom (and me and Lisa on the horses last week.) The little hill is a beautiful spot to watch moonrises, sunsets, and approaching storms.
(Or active storms, for that matter. My oldest, while still a teenager, would slip away when I wasn't looking and drive his old car up there when the skies were really putting on a show. I'm so grateful to his angels for keeping him safe! Dang kids.)
There were no storms Friday night, but there were low clouds that veiled the moon from us. Tom and I were patient, though, keeping one hopeful eye on the clouds while we gazed out over the hills and a shrinking lake. We were rewarded by this sunset directly opposite the moon's stage...
A few minutes later, perhaps out of mercy, or maybe just jealous that our attention had wavered, the moon finally peeked at us through a small gap in the clouds.
By now you probably all know the definition of a Blue Moon: the third full moon in a season that has four full moons, instead of the usual three, or a second full moon in a month.
It's pretty rare... hence the saying "...once in a blue moon."
But not nearly as rare as two people meeting one night in a bar and, within a few days, knowing they want to spend the rest of their lives together...
That's what happened to me and Tom thirty-one years ago this month. What better way to celebrate than wandering around the top of a small hill at dusk, watching the sun melt and hoping for a glimpse of a Blue Moon.
Blue Moon
You saw me standing alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own
Blue Moon
You know just what I was there for
You heard me saying a prayer for
Someone I really could care for
And then there suddenly appeared before me
The only one my arms will hold
I heard somebody whisper please adore me
And when I looked to the Moon it turned to gold
Blue Moon
Now I'm no longer alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own
Blue Moon lyrics © EMI Music Publishing
