December 1, 2008.

THE start of a new month and the last one of the year. The Christian calendar year, anyway.
What to do with this month? I drew a picture of a lady tonight in my art journal and then wrote something over her face. She was looking at me in a questioning way and I guess I didn't like that and I judged her very harshly.
Maybe tomorrow I will paint over her and draw something else.
I want to be able to see the stars tonight because Southern Girl said two planets are very bright in the sky. Here is the info: Jupiter is headed down toward the horizon earlier each evening. On December 1, it is one day past its closest conjunction with the brighter Venus. The planets are still close together though and the scene is accented by a slender crescent moon just above them.
Well, that sounded so tempting I ventured out into the cool back yard - and here it is, 9:43 p.m. But even though there are streaks of clearing in the clouds I can get no good southern view. Our city is so lit up it's hard to see the stars at night unless they're very, very big. For a moment I thought I saw one of the stars, but it was moving and blinking and then I heard the noise: a plane! And there are too many trees in the way on the southern side of our yard.
It was nice to look back on our house, though, standing in the darkness with the shining lights inside and a glow at most of the windows. It looked cozy and warm inside. What a good thing to have - a home, safe and warm. Check Southern Girl's blog if you want to see the planets in a very nice picture - femminismo