Week of Sept. 27 - Oct. 3, 2009 by Dennis Mammana on Creators.com

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Week of Sept. 27 - Oct. 3, 2009

If you're looking to score points with your sweetie, next weekend would be a great time to do so.

Late in the afternoon of Saturday, Oct. 3, pack a romantic picnic and a blanket, and head toward a hilltop with a nice, clear view of both the eastern and western horizons. Oh, and don't forget to take your sweetie with you.

After enjoying a gorgeous sunset, turn around and face the opposite direction. There you'll witness an equally beautiful sight: the rising of the famous harvest moon.

Many myths surround the harvest moon. Some people believe it appears larger and redder than all others. Not true. The moon always appears this way when it hangs low in the sky. Its reddish-orange color is caused by the great amount of air its light must pass through, and its apparently huge size is the result of an optical trick played on us by our brains.

And despite what some might think, the harvest moon represents more than just an opportunity for hopeless romantics to spoon, according to the lyrics of the early 20th century popular song.

No, the harvest moon is the name we give the full moon that occurs closest to the autumnal equinox which, this year, occurred on Sept.

22.

For ages, the light of this full moon offered practical value to farmers who used it to extend into the early evening their harvesting of corn, pumpkins, squash, beans and wild rice that were traditionally ready for gathering at this time of year.

In fact, the harvest moon isn't the only full moon to have a name. Native Indians of North America had names for each one of the year. For example, every Algonquin tribe knew the full moon of June as the strawberry moon, while Europeans called it the rose moon — perhaps because its relatively low altitude paints it with a pinkish hue.

And some native tribes knew the December full moon as the cold moon or the long nights moon probably because, at that time of year, the nights are longest and darkest, and the winter cold begins to fasten its grip.

Now maybe all this science and history stuff will add to your appreciation of the harvest moon, and maybe it won't. Either way, if the sky is clear next Saturday night — and if the food and company are good — I promise you'll both have a wonderful time!

To find out more about Dennis Mammana and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.