Out of the blue

With reference to Marina Donald’s letter (10 October) about her viewing of a blue moon on 26 September, 1950, my wife and I, on honeymoon, climbed Ben Nevis on that date and observed from the summit that in the haze the sun was quite blue. We thought it was something to do with altitude, until that evening in Fort William the moon, also, was quite blue.

In fact, it was observed throughout Europe that the moon was blue that night. The phrase, “once in a blue moon”, has substance.

(Dr) Norman Robertson

Argyll