As long as we're breathing, we won't be leaving

For months I have been looking forward to the four-hundred-year great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, but the sky is as mottled with cloud as blue agate and looks unlikely to clear by evening. I am reminding myself that the planets dance whether I can see them changing partners or not, the sun returns whether it is a bright short day or a grey one, without my observation stars go nova and are born. Happy solstice! Whether it is the beginning of a new age or the last of an old year, let's keep being here to witness the light.