The Rare August Blue Moon Lights the Soul Within

The third of four moons of the summer season, a blue moon, shows big and bright over Lake Michigan bringing neighbors together to celebrate.

Blue Moon seen from Jarvis Beach in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago Author

I’m not sure what it is about a full moon that pulls at us, brings us outside to view it’s majestic lighting of the sky but this month, the blue moon has called not just to me but to many of my neighbors. We join together into one big family, no one a stranger, even as COVID begins to make it presence known again, threatening to separate us, one from another, once more.

This weekend, people all over Chicago are coming out to the lake to catch 2021’s only blue moon. There are two types of blue moons. The first and more common type is when there are two full moons in a single month. When this occurs, the second one is referred to as a blue moon. In the second case, when there are four full moons in a calendar season which has three months and normally three full moons, the third full moon is called a blue moon. The seasonal full moon is a rarer event as it only occurs once every two to the three years.

This weekend’s full moon is of the second variety. Already a rare event, this August’s Blue Moon is even more unusual in that it will be at almost peak illumination from Friday night…