Words of Mercury not so harsh

[pameladean]

Eric had emailed me yesterday to suggest that if it was clear at sunset, I look for Venus, because Mercury would be visible nearby. It was not clear yesterday, and I had forgotten all about it by this afternoon. I had also forgotten to charge my cellphone overnight, so it wasn't with me. Eric texted me twice and then called, after which I threw on some random warm things and ran outside. I was distracted by having been trying, all day, to get a critical conversation in a short story I'm trying to finish to come into focus, so I went absently over to 37th, where there is a goodish view of the eastern sky. It was a gorgeous twilight, clear except for a fading contrail or two, the sky all shades of blue and blue-gray with a stain of yellow deepening to orange and then red in the west -- oh. The WEST. I went back around to the best intersection for seeing the western sky. Venus was very bright just above the low roof of an apartment building. I wished I'd brought my cellphone so that I could look on Google Sky Map for which side of Venus Mercury was on; I wished I had grabbed the binoculars as I ran out of the front door. But as the traffic rushed by and the lights changed and changed again, a foggy dot emerged not far from Venus at a little past three o'clock. I was never quite able to see it clearly except with averted vision before it set behind the apartment building. My feet were getting cold -- I had not bothered to put my boots on -- and the melted snow was freezing back to the pavement. And it's a bit of a hike to the next place where one can see more of the eastern horizon; so I came home. But I'm extremely pleased.

Pamela