Once in a Red Moon

Publisher Marketing: Everyone has probably heard the phrase, "Once in a blue moon," at one time or another in their lifetime. It has traditionally come to mean something that does not happen all that often. No on really knows how the term originated but it has been reported that many hundreds of years ago, an enormous vocanic eruption sent plumes of ash far into the atmosphere which made the moon appear bluish for a period of time. In 1946, an article in the March issue of Sky and Telescope magazine, erroneously reported a "blue" moon as being, "the second full moon in the same calendar month," and that fallacious definition grew into fact for newer generations of wide-eyed stargazers. In fact, though, a blue moon is the third full moon in a single season--be it winter, spring, summer, or fall--that has four full moons. By that definition, a blue moon occurs about seven times in a 19 year period, or about one time in every 2.7 years. But this tale, "Once in a Red Moon," is not about the science of the moon, or the planets, or the stars in the galaxies billions of light years away. No, dear reader, this account involves an event ever rarer than that of a true blue moon. This story involves the sweet taste of rightful revenge; and regardless of whose definition is right, or whose definition is wrong, the good folks of Jefferson County, Kansas would never again utter the words "blue moon" after they had witnessed the final full moon on the 31st day of October, in the Year of Our Lord, Nineteen-Hundred and Sixty. R. T. Budd is the author of two full length novels, "Knight's Blessing," and "The Deepest Wounds of War." He resided in Jefferson County, Kansas as a boy when his father, a career soldier, was assigned to nearby Fort Leavenworth in 1959. R. T. is a retired, combat-decorated, Army veteran of 23 years, and currently lives with his wife, Sue, near Hershey, Pennsylvania.