Asakiyume mita

Walking home from the supermarket in the dark around 6 pm, I saw in the Western sky something brighter and larger than a star but not quite as large as a streetlamp light. Could it be Venus? I wondered. That big? Maybe?

Or would it start moving and reveal itself to be a plane?

Not an asteroid, probably--we'd have heard (or would we???)

So I kept my eyes fixed on it as I walked, saying, Please don't be a plane, please be Venus, please be magnificent morning star evening star Venus, please don't start blinking red or blue lights at me, Please... until I had to turn my back to it.

Just now I searched "bright object western evening sky November"¹ and lo, my prayer was answered:

Throughout November, slowly but surely, Venus is becoming increasingly prominent in the western evening sky. It will become a dominant object calling attention to itself right on through the upcoming winter months.
--Joe Rao,"The Brightest Planets in November's Night Sky: How to See Them (and When)," November 1, 2024, space.com.

¹ Using this nifty page that will do a search without AI results, YESSSS