The Harvest Moon - Its Advantages and Disadvantages

The full moon is upon us. Many find it a source of romantic or poetic inspiration. It also has practical aspects, though.

For me a full moon is a critical time for production of Wizard Water^©. Part of my receipt for manufacturing my elixir depends upon timing. Because water rises during the waxing phase of the moon, Wizard Water^© can only achieve its strongest efficacy if produced during the moon’s fullest exposure to the Earth. This is one of the reasons why Wizard Water^© is so expensive ($2 a bottle): it can only be produced under a full or near-full, waxing moon. To do otherwise spells disaster.

To give you an example: I once thought I would save time and increase my profits by generating a some Wizard Water^© during a waning moon. The lunar orb was near full, but entering into the reduced end of the spectrum. Nevertheless, I labored on a fresh batch, and sold most of it to a pig farmer. He later returned to me and demanded a refund. His complaint: his drift of pigs shrank to the size of acorns. They were covered by the autumn leaves and were not found until spring, so he lost an entire season's profits, or so he thought. The farmer threatened a lawsuit, declaring that I practiced theft by deception.

I was saved from a legal entanglement by the recovery of the pigs. I gauged the prevailing direction of the wind and located them in a corn field about 20 miles from the owner's farm. They had been blown there by a winter storm and survived on fallen cobs. By that time they were larger than acorns, but still so small that it took three of them to make one strip of bacon. This turned out to be an advantage for the farmer, because bacon was scarce in early spring and commanded a high price. Small pigs were also easier to ship in mail sacks. He wound up making a tidy profit. I did not take any shortcuts with production after that, however.

So feel free to romanticize that rotund, glowing traveler in the night sky (the moon, not the wind-blown pigs)! Remember, though, that there is a practical side to everything. The effect of a waxing moon on Wizard Water^© is not much different than its effect on swindlers and swine. Timing is everything.