Here is this morning's lovely eastern sky with its waning crescent moon and brilliant Venus. Most of the heat from my place escaped outdoors as I opened the sliding glass door to the 8°F weather for a clear long exposure.
Since November I've been getting up a half hour earlier and it's been a good thing for me. I don't rush around so much in the morning, it's quality time to get my day started on the right foot. And knees.
On a few clear mornings looking out the window in December I watched Mercury rise quickly in the sky before the sunrise. I've studied the planets since I was very young, but have never actually seen Mercury until I started getting up early last year. It was exciting to confirm I finally spotted it.
A few years ago we learned
Jupiter is a giant comet magnet that makes an extinction-free Earth life possible. What is Mercury's purpose?
All things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.
I'm beginning to realize there's a lot in motion out there, a larger plan at work, marching on whether we see or understand it. That's definitely worth a couple hours of sleep here and there.
