Tuesday Night was one of the warmest October nights on record in Melbourne. What better than a stroll down the main street to buy some beer and a pizza for dinner. A gentle warm northerly breeze was blowing and the footpath tables of the local cafes were full. It reminded me of our time in Mexico actually. Ah there has to be some pluses to global warming.

In the southern hemisphere we can expect more of these delightful nights. Not like you lot in the northern hemisphere who have commenced your decent into death. Don't worry though, The Green Man will be there next spring to triumph over winter and return life to your forests and fields. Traditionally this is a period when you must stock up to survive the cold winter months. The food is stockpiled for this frigid period. By now most crops have been harvested and it is time to slaughter stock and hunt wild animals to provide the meat for the winter. Accordingly, the October Moon is known as the "Blood Moon".

This months moon is more special than most. If you live in north america, on Wednesday, Oct. 27th at 9:14 p.m. EDT (6:14 p.m. PDT) you can witness a full lunar eclipse of the moon when it will display itself full of the blood of the slaughtered animals, as per the picture on the right.

Some of the more anal retentive of the readership may be interested in the scientific explanation of this phenonemon which I will come to in a minute. First, however, consider not reading any further and look upon it with the awe and respect that your ancestors did.

You kept reading!

Oh all right then. The lunar eclipse is formed by the earth coming between the sun and the moon. The light from the sun is powerful however and refracts through the earths atmosphere causing the red tinge to the moon.

Read more at NASA here or Salisbury University here.