Fishing Guide to the Stars
By Kramer Wetzel
For the week starting: 8/20/2009
"And thou a natural coward without instinct"
Prince Hal in Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1 [II.iv.470]
Change is underfoot. Don’t follow Sir John Oldcastle (Falstaff).
Questions are always free, some answers require a cash deposit. The e-mail line is always on, "31" (24 and 7).
Leo: I was traveling some place. Probably a commuter flight, probably not more than half an hour of air time, but this really doesn’t matter. This is about the flight attendant. "You were asleep so I didn’t get a drink order, would you like anything to drink?" From years of travel, I’ve grown accustom to napping through the safety instructions as the plane taxis down the runway to being fully asleep when the jet lifts off.
It’s part of my "Sagittarius, I like to travel" skill set. What I thought was so sweet of that one attendant, in this day and age, to ask if I wanted something after I woke from my catnap. I glanced at her name tag, not staring at her chest. Underneath the tag, there was a second appellation: trainee. How nice. Which also explains why she was extra nice to me. I’m just an irascible old fart, really. I politely demurred the proffered request, despite my sleepy nature. When you’re awakened, gently, not gently, however it works? Try and be nice. Like a kitten, an apt example, for a Leo, the Leo, to act like. Like me, politely demur. Best way to work this week’s energy, I’m telling you.
Virgo: Beethoven’s Symphony #5, Allegro Con Brio. Sets a tone. Sets a very specific tone, and the opening refrain? Hear the leitmotif and I’m sure you’ll recognize the tune. It’s about starting over and then, just as you get all excited? Slowing it down.
I could be completely full of organic male bovine by-product.
Or, maybe, give me a chance here, I might be onto something. Hard to get all up and classical in my location, down at the southern tip of Texas. Hard to guess I might be onto a theme that would apply to Virgo at this time, but yeah, I kept seeing that small piece from the that particular symphony play a role in the coming week. Weeks, as there’s a ten to fourteen day theme here. Hear.
Libra: I was looking at a map of Florida, and from what I could tell, most of Florida is, like, about twenty feet in elevation. That would be twenty feet above sea level. On one weather website, I was noticing that storm surge for a hurricane was expected to be 9-12 feet. That means, if I’m doing this right, half of that state would be flooded. One big wave all it takes.
Reminded me of a time I was sitting in a shoreline place, having some fresh seafood, Texas coastline. "You’re hurricane proof here, aren’t you?" I asked the waiter. He looked at me with that, "I can’t believe you’re asking me" look. "We’re four feet about sea level." That’s all he said.
There’s an approaching squall line, you can see it over the water, like, in that seaside place — or on the map. Tracking a hurricane? Maybe that. I live just a hundred miles north of the hurricane zone, high ground, safe place. The heavy weather doesn’t threaten me. But as I was looking at that Florida map and then, the Libra planetary arrangement, I was thinking, for my Libra friends, "Isn’t it time you moved to higher ground?" Easiest way to weather the approaching squall line.
Scorpio: Ever see someone do something, just to irritate you? It’s as if they’ve taken a page from the notebook on how to effectively anger Scorpio, right, and then put that idea into motion. Might not be big things, could be a whole series of small events, too. Red light after red light? Speed limits, cops, editorial writers, horoscope authors, any number of folks, and any number of sources of material that crosses the Scorpio purview in the next couple of days? Pisses you off.
No one knows better than me that an irritable Scorpio is not a good thing.
Not at all. And while I can’t fix that, I can do something about you. I can warn you. No one, not in his or her right mind, no one would ever try and piss off a Scorpio. Not on purpose. Therefore, look at the situations. Look at the people. I’m not saying that everyone is innocent, no, that’s hardly the case, but as you watch events and behaviors stack up against you? You have to wonder if they really are doing this just to irritate you. Or is it something a little deeper?
All that Aquarius stuff is going to grate on the already slightly frayed Scorpio nerves. Don’t let it get you down. Sometimes, I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but sometimes? A coincidence is just that: coincidence.
Sagittarius: In front of the county courthouse in downtown San Antonio, there’s a historical marker that notes the first settlers in the area were from the Canary Islands. North of San Antonio, there’s a swath of land that was settled in a frankly German terms, with names that sound like they come from the old country. New Braunfels and Fredrickburg are two names that come to mind. There were Irish and Scottish defenders at the Alamo.
The hint, for Sagittarius, is that this is a giant melting pot with a plethora of ethnic backgrounds. "Native" can mean a lot of different things. However, native is also the sanest and safest approach to the next week. Doesn’t matter much what the natives are doing, when you’re in a particular locale? Imitate the natives. Blend in, fit in, and partake as if you were on your own home grounds. Go native, whatever that means.
Capricorn: I was driving a friend’s car to pick her up at work. I had to cut through a large parking lot, two actually, and each lot was virtually empty. It was after quitting time, if I recall rightly. Which I might not but that’s not the point. I did a slalom course, like a tiny parking lot racer cutting between the pylons, only, I was just avoiding the speed bumps. In doing so, I crossed various parking lines, violated a few parking spaces, and I moved slow.
Moved slowly. Which was the point of the speed bumps. I just didn’t go over the bumps, I went around them. I’d like to think I was just scrubbing the sides of the tires to improve traction, and what I was doing was avoiding the undercarriage damage by working the little car’s suspension in another way.
It’s not really a sports car, but with my sunglasses, I felt sporty, if only for that dash, which was more of a saunter, through the parking lot. I cleverly avoided the speed bumps. Required a little more work on my part. Which is what this about. Avoiding the problems? Might take a little more work, but I’d try and figure a slalom course for the Capricorn — navigate around the speed bumps up ahead.
Aquarius: Not that I’m allowed to make a judgement call about this, not me, but there’s a sense that there’s a certain element of procrastination running around in the Aquarius astrology chart. I’m, this is a stated fact, pretty much in the school of thought, that if I can put it off until next week? I will.
Why bother doing today what can be easily accomplished a (much) later date? Don’t worry about the rising water, it’s always possible to drain the swamp next week, right? That’s my thinking, anyway, never mind the alligators. Should’ve thought of that last week? I did. And I summarily dismissed the thought.
While procrastination is a way of life for me? I’m not suggesting that you adopt this as a lifestyle choice for Aquarius. Well, maybe procrastination is a good lifestyle choice, but maybe, not right now?
Pisces: There’s a certain amount of routine maintenance that’s required to keep Pisces running as a clean, lean machine. Some kind of regular work I was thinking less of workout and more along the lines of regular check-up. Only, that sounds medical, and that’s not really the issue not the way I see it.
"So it’s not physical, and it’s not mental, then what does that leave?" The ever smart Pisces response. I wasn’t anticipating that. I can’t pin it down, what the issue is, not across the board for all Pisces.
What I can nail down, for sure? There’s an issue. Needs a trifle bit of regular work. Could be as simple as a drop of oil on a pocketknife’s hinge. Or, like always a fishing metaphor: there’s a brand of fishing reel I tend to favor and it’s relatively easy to disassemble one of those reels. One of my reels was making a strange noise. I pulled it apart, couldn’t see anything wrong, put it back together.
Fixed. Even though it wasn’t broken. Weird noise was gone, too. Routine maintenance, all it takes this week.
ASTROFISH.NET: Next Week! Full–Frontal Astrology!
Aries: The sun sets and Jupiter rises. Venus and Mars are morning stars. The moon reaches the halfway mark as of next week. And Aries? As your planet — Mr. Mars — shifts from Gemini to Cancer — and opposes Pluto — there’s a sense of urgent urgency in Aries. Here’s the big secret: there is no urgency.
There’s nothing that has to be dealt with this minute, right away, have to do this at this very moment. It just feels that way. Doesn’t mean that it’s really a big deal. In fact, in the course of the next few years, we’ll all see this again and again, about every two years for the next dozen years. However, that doesn’t stop you from rushing headlong, possibly flinging yourself into the gaping maws of a perceived problem, and shouting, "Now! Now!"
Stop. Nothing’s that urgent. It might appear that way, in the next few days, and next week? Monday? Might seem like it is terribly important.
Stop. Nothing has to be done right away. It might seem that way, but just pause for a breather. Take a pill.
Stop. A well-timed pause can save you years of heartache and headache.
Taurus: There comes a time, happening in Taurus right now, anyway, there comes time when the easiest way to get your message across is to repeat it three times. It’s simple, really, the message you’ve got to convey is clear and concise — obfuscation isn’t an issue. That’s not the point. The problem is that no seems to be listening, or, for that matter, hearing your clear and concise point.
It’s not that the message isn’t clear, it’s not that there is anything confusing, it’s just the other party doesn’t seem to get what you’re saying. Hence the need to repeat the message three times.
This gets annoying, at first. But since you’ve now read about this issue, the need to repeat the message three times? Now you realize that the problem really isn’t your fine Taurus self, but the other party, the listening party who isn’t listening clearly? Now that you’ve got that through your mind, you understand that all you have to do is patiently explain your point, three times over.
Same words. It’s like a rehearsal, then a dress rehearsal, then the real deal. Three times. Think of the first two as practical practice.
Reverse Phone Look-up: Click Here!
Gemini: My sister is a Gemini. My Gemini sister asked me for directions. It was about her website or something. I made a direct comment, no obfuscation, about how to solve the problem. For the next three days, though, all I heard from her was "problem problem, problem, and problem." On the fourth day, she told me she had affected a work-around solution to her difficulty. It was the exact solution, the same steps, to the letter, that I’d made several days earlier. Only, it was now her idea, and guess what? My idea solved her problem.
As the older brother in this situation, I can hammer home the point that I came up with the solution first. Sort of a waste of my time, though, and in her Gemini heart, she knows I’m correct. Or, I can preach a little and suggest that even though I know I’m right? I don’t have to prove it. Now, the clearest lesson her, for Gemini? When a solution is proffered? Go ahead and take it. Unless you like complaining and bemoaning the odd fates, I mean, sure, then you can avoid the obvious solutions. The second point, flip this around, look at my side, where I offered up an answer, right away, and the Gemini took it, three days, and internalized it as her own. Either way, though, the problem was solved. I just wondered why it took an extra three days to figure out that I had the right answer, the first time.
Cancer: In Austin, on the lake there, used to be Town Lake, now it’s Lake Lady Bird, the University has a rowing team. Rowing regatta, point and case, each spring. Along come the rowers, the muscle-bound types. The boats usually have the teams’ names and the team rowers, too.
There are the one-seater, two-seater, then the four and nine seater boats. Slim little crafts, slicing through the calm waters of the lake, and the occasional fishing buddy, to muddy the scene. But mostly I was thinking about the row boats and teams. Slim crafts and when a team is pulling together, it looks like poetry, sliding gracefully across the water’s glimmering surface.
Mars is going to interrupt that image. Like a power boat jetting through the graceful lanes of the row boats? There are two ways to address this action. One would be to get all upset and file a complaint with the city, the sponsoring organization, or call the police. Something. There’s a second idea, just an off-chance that the wake from the jet boat? Can you surf one of those row boats down the wake? Just an idea, turn a liability into an asset?
