Did you see them? #SOLSC23

Did you see them last night? In the words of the amazing Dr. Brian May (astronomer and Queen guitarist extraordinaire) “Venus and Jupiter were kissing.” They passed each other (what’s referred to as a conjunction — a perfect term for a writing group!), finishing up their transition earlier in the day, and then around 6:30 pm last night, they were shining brilliantly in the western sky together.

My husband was heading out to pick up some payday Pad Thai when he called to me to come quick. “What’s that?” he said. “Let me get my phone. I just downloaded the Night Sky app,” I replied. I’d been meaning to do this for a while and something triggered this memory in my brain and I did it just days ago! Sure enough, the app confirmed what we were seeing. I also checked my Instagram feed to see if the recently knighted Dr. May, whom I follow, had shared anything about it, and indeed he had. Another confirmation! (He recommends the free Sky Guide app, BTW, so I’ll be giving that a go.)

How could these celestial beauties be so close to us and burning so brightly? And to think Dr. May, all the way over in the UK, and I were watching the same thing at roughly the same time. I’ve never seen anything like it, and I won’t soon forget it. For that one moment in time, the world felt incredibly small.

Thanks for wondering and wandering a bit with me today. And many thanks to the crew at Two Writing Teachers, and the extended SOL community, for giving us the time, space, and encouragement to live the writerly life here every Tuesday throughout the year and daily during the month of March. Happy Slicing!