Ishtar in the Window

Lately my days and nights have mostly been devoted to looking at screens and tapping on keyboards, and I've felt generally underinspired. But when I woke up this morning the sky was just beginning to lighten over the treetops to the east, and Venus was high in the sky. No stars were visible, just the lovely silvery planet, called "Ishtar" by the Bablylonians.

And by the time I came downstairs and got the coffee going, the rising sun had painted some cloud cover with fierce, glowing orange and coral hues that I felt lucky to be up to see. Not a bad way to start the day. It's full daylight now, nearly 8 a.m., neighbors leaning on the fence talking about ball games and so forth. But still a bit of magic in the air from that in-between world when night gives way to day. Not a bad way to start at all, actually.