HEY, DIDDLE, DIDDLE, the cat and the fiddle, the cow jumped over the moon.
Goodnight room. Goodnight moon. Goodnight cow jumping over the moon.
Blue moon. Harvest moon. Full moon.
Moon, moon, moon. Whether in a nursery rhyme, a children’s picture book or in a weather report, the moon has always focused our attention.
MOON MEMORIES
As a child, I found myself drawn to the full moon of harvest season. On an October evening, when extended family gathered in a small farmhouse to celebrate my bachelor Uncle Mike’s birthday, the moon shone upon the farmyard and surrounding fields. In the shadows, my cousins and I played “Starlight, Moonlight,” a nocturnal hide-and-seek, until we were called back to the farmhouse for soda pop. There we gathered around a wooden crate of bottled pop while moths beat their wings against the screen door in a desperate attempt to reach a porch light.
Light. In the deep cold of a winter evening, moonlight guided me from barn to house on my childhood farm. My boots crunched against the packed snow, my breath haloing around me, my fingertips numb from doing chores. High above, the moon hovered.
MOON WALK
On July 20, 1969, the moon morphed well beyond a literary subject or a guiding light for me. I watched Neil Armstrong step onto and walk on the moon from the comfort of Martin and Hattie Schmidt’s living room in Posen Township on the southwestern Minnesota prairie. My family was visiting them for the evening as was customary back in those days.
MOON GO-AROUND
All these moon memories rushed back on Wednesday, April 1, when Artemis II launched into space for a go-around, not a landing, on the moon. This time I sat in the comfort of my living room, watching lift-off on my flat screen color television, not a black-and-white bulky TV.
While I didn’t experience the same thrill I felt as a child witnessing the moon walk, the blasting of a rocket into space still impressed me. Such power. Such an unimaginable concept that four astronauts (including a woman) could travel into deep space, thousands and thousands and thousands of miles to the far side of the moon.
And then home. To the moon of nursery rhymes, children’s picture books, seasons and memories.
TELL ME: What are your personal moon stories?
© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
A truly incredible event for sure. One of my favorite things is lying in bed watching the moon light up the sky. Nothing like
That would be beautiful and serene. I have blackout shades on my bedroom windows to keep out the light pollution from street lights and my neighbor’s spotlight on the corner of his garage.
I, too, watched the Artemis launch. Holy cow! I marvel at all the human beings whose brilliance has brought us to the point where brave pioneers of space can land and walk on the moon. I remember thinking Neil Armstrong and those astronauts were so very brave. And now we seek to go even further. Man seems to always need to discover the next frontier. And I am grateful to them and respect their valiant efforts. But, I am honest enough to say that I am happy to do that from the safety of my living room. God bless our pioneers!
I feel exactly the same, Sheri. Thank you for your thoughtful comment.
I love your moon photo, poem, and memories. there is something almost magical about a full moon that brings out the best in us. I’m excited about the artemis launch because it is back in NASA’s hands and that means something to me, rather than under the umbrella of a billionaire and their pet project. maybe I’m just nostalgic or old fashioned about it –
I have two strong memories connected to the moon. the first will be my repost for tomorrow morning about a moon story from when I was a young child, and it is quite funny looking back.
the second was my memory of the night of the moon launch and the first men to walk on the moon. we went to my parents’ good friends’ house. mrs. v, the mother, was very pregnant, and she actually went into labor and left for the hospital while we were there. we watched neil armstrong, along with the others, walk on the moon that night which was absolutely surreal, and I remember looking out the window looking up at the moon trying to see them, and back at the tv, and they named their baby after Neil.
Anything that is out of “his” clutch is a good thing.
That’s quite a memory you have of watching the first moon landing. I love it. Thank you for sharing your moon story.
I really like the moon…and seeing a full moon is a joy.
Cleary Lake used to have a program “Walk when the Moon is Full” every month and my friend and I, as young moms, left our kids with the dads and walked under the full moon at Cleary Lake. It created some good memories.
That is a delightful memory of walking with your friend along Cleary Lake under a full moon.
My granddaughter loved the moon when she was little and I taught her to sing Blue Moon. I think she was 4. Such a precious memory!
Thank you for sharing that sweet memory, Lori.