For no good reason, I’m up before dawn and go into the living room to look out the window. Through the clouds the stars can be made out here and there. My dogs stir but I don’t let them out. In the sky, Sirius is visible and, a second later, most of Canis Major. Orion higher up is brandishing a weapon that fades into the night. In the woods, meanwhile, hunters are making their way with small flashlights that twinkle in the dark.