The Stars in Alignment

Three runners, let’s call them Runner F, Runner M and Runner D, are part way through their Hinckley 9-mile loop in the early morning darkness. They’re admiring the stars, and Runner D mentions that he had attended a Star Trek concert with his Trekkie of a son-in-law last night. He consequently didn’t get as much sleep as he’d have liked. He also notes that he plans to become even more sleep deprived tonight as the hour is lost due to the shift to daylight savings time.

Runner F asks the name of the bright star that’s directly in the west. Runner M answers that Runner D will probably say it’s Venus. Runner D, who truly didn’t need anyone to answer in his behalf (but also truly didn’t mind), corrects Runner M, explaining that Venus can only be in the east in the morning, or in the west in the evening. He goes on to speculate that the “star” is probably indeed a planet, just a different one; probably Jupiter.

A couple days prior, the stars came into alignment for Runner D, as he went ahead, gulp, and registered for Rock the Ridge… By Jove!