TheBanyanTree: The Harvest Moon

[Margaret R. Kramer]

The huge, and somewhat golden harvest moon watched over our house last
night.  When I got up around midnight to go to the bathroom, our usually
dark house was bathed in a silver light shining in through the windows.  The
moon was so bright, I didn’t even need to turn on the lights.

But the moon didn’t watch over our Twins.  We were at the game when the
Twins clinched the division title after clawing and scratching their way
back into contention most of the summer.  They went from being harmless
little sunfish to fearsome piranhas as the summer wore on.

We watched and cheered as they beat Chicago.  Then we stayed and cheered as
we watched on the large TV screens in the Dome as Kansas City miraculously
beat the Detroit Tigers in 12 innings after coming back from being down 6 –
0.  Our piranhas were in the playoffs with home field advantage for at least
the first playoff series.

Then the moon began waxing towards its full harvest state and began to work
its magical powers on the Twins.  They couldn’t hit, they couldn’t pitch,
and they couldn’t run the bases.  Balls skittered by outstretched gloves.
They bobbled balls.  They gave up home run bombs to the Big Hurt.  And hurt
us he did.

The boys are done for the summer.  But what a summer it was.  I will always
remember this 2006 team with Joe Mauer as batting champ, Johan Santana as Cy
Young, Justin Morneau as MVP, and Ron Gardenhire as manager of the year.  If
Liriano stayed healthy, perhaps he would have been rookie of the year.
These boys had budding superpowers and the harvest moon humbled them.  But
next year . . .

Fall colors in the St Paul area reached their peak this week.  And the
weather cooperated by providing us with a string of warm and sunny days to
enjoy those colors.  It will be in the mid-70s today as we head for our
annual trek to the apple orchard to walk through a corn maze, pick out
pumpkins to carve for Halloween, and buy apples and pie and cider.  It
should be nice enough to have a fire in our fireplace in the backyard and
the boys can streak around the flickering flames.

I bet that big harvest moon will make an appearance, too.  He might have
neutralized the Twins’ powers, but he can’t do anything to us.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net

There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls.
~George Carlin