From our geocentric vantage point he’s been giving us the cold shoulder for months: acting increasingly distant and remote all through the fall. Trudging off by himself into the interplanetary darknesses and moping, miffed at something rash we said. “Too hot”, in a moment of August irritation, rubbing on our SPF 45. So off in a huff he goes to commiserate with his good friend Tau Ceti, leaving us to freeze and plead and mainline Echinacea by the pint.

So a bunch of us are getting together this evening to see if we can tempt him back. Nothing fancy: just a small candle-lit procession, a bit of good old-fashioned pagan drum-beating, a few Druidic chants. Fingers crossed: let’s hope it works. I’m ready for another season to begin.