December 1st

I received a text message from Jessika. She asked me whether the two bright objects near the crescent moon were planets or stars. I went outside to take a look for myself. They seemed to me to be too bright for stars, given the twilight remaining in the sky, so I replied that they were most likely planets. Ten minutes later, as I walked some trash out to the dumpster, I took in the sight again from a wider vantage.

The sight was truly beautiful to behold. The purple of the sky provided just enough of a back contrast to the brightness of the moon and the two planets (Venus and Jupiter, I later came to find out.) And there was a thin veil of clouds and airline contrails that gave a foggy, misty essence to the brightness. As I walked back inside, I took this time to look around at the silhouettes of trees and buildings in the twilight. To my surprise, I saw that many people had hung up lights over the Thanksgiving weekend, and so windows and roofs and gables were lit up. This scene, tranquil and beautiful as it was, showed me that the Christmas season is indeed here.