The 2001 Harvest Moon, Luddington Daily News

My wife and I celebrate mooniversaries. Back in the summer of 2001, we were eager to get our new life started, and scheduled a few meetings to make the plans. We knew that we had no money, and we knew that we wanted to get married, but filling in that gap was the hard part. Over the course of these discussions (one at a nearby public library and one on the beach of a nearby lake) we determined that in just over a month’s time we would get married and move to New Jersey, choosing that state because it was just far enough from home to force us to become completely independent, but close enough to allow easy enough visits for holidays and long weekends. I had just returned from grad school in Princeton, so we already knew that area fairly well. It seemed like a good place to start.

Looking ahead at the calendar, we somehow noticed an interesting confluence of events in early October. An eight-digit palindromic date was going to occur on October 2 (10022001), an occurrence which alone was impressive, having not happened since August 31, 1380. What’s more, it was set to occur on the Harvest Moon*. We saw that as a good luck sign, a chance to get started on the right foot. Sure it was a Tuesday night, but we weren’t planning to have a big group anyway, so it seemed oddly fine enough for us.

More about the wedding itself at a later time, this post is about full moons. Ever since then, we have made note of each full moon, a monthly reminder of that night, some thirteen years ago when even celestial bodies aligned, guiding us toward a life of happiness and wholeness. I anticipate every full moon, and with each, wish her a “Happy Mooniversary”. Images of the full moon, like the one pictured above, taken many miles away, remind me of our special night all these years later. And our de facto theme song has been Neil Young.

Happy Harvest Mooniversary to you, Sweetie Face.
Look to the sky.
Here’s to many more.