Venus has vanished into the sun's glare

All summer Venus was my evening companion, blazing low in the west after sunset walks. This week she's gone, lost in the sun's glare as she passes between us and it.

Astrologers call this stretch Venus retrograde and say it's a time to revisit what (and who) we value. I've been doing that gently: unsubscribing from things, calling my sister, letting a couple of old resentments go.

But honestly my favorite part is what comes next. In a few weeks she'll reappear on the other side of the sun as the morning star, which gives a chronic sunrise chaser the perfect excuse to be up at dawn in November. See you there, Venus.