"Get your apparel together, good strings to your beards, new ribbons to your pumps, meet presently at the palace, every man look o’er his part."
Shakespeare’s A Midsummers Night’s Dream (IV.ii.18)
Actress Sandra Dee and author Vladimir Nabokov share Shakespeare’s purported birthday, April 23. Upcoming events, information is here.
Aries: As the springtime weather warms and gets set for a full broil version of later spring, as the local season goes from warm to hot, the weather in the Aries quadrant is going to cool off just a bit. From fevered pitch to a slightly more bucolic pace, it’s like the AC on a hot afternoon, welcome relief. Around here, there are warm spring days when — for most people — AC is required, like, in the office or at the store.
For a nature person like myself, I tend to leave the AC off and just open the window. And the front door. And the back door, just to provide that natural air. Spring-time, as good a time as any to air the place out. But when I venture into an established place, like, a real office, the AC seems to be a little on the cool side. Not entirely unwelcome, just cold. Sometimes, this is enjoyable. Occasionally, it’s just plain too cold.
It’s a ticklish situation trying to control the environmental factors, and unless one lives in a tiny trailer along the shores of the river, finding balance between AC and ambient temperature can be a little difficult. With the sun moving out of Aries, though, that’s the key. Find a way to strike a balance with the cooling trend. It’s going to be welcome relief.
Taurus: Happy birthday to the Taurus, and you’re overdue for a big party. With the way things have been lately, politics, disasters and so forth? You need a valid form of escape. A birthday celebration of some sort is in order. It’s important to properly celebrate the passing of another year, and it’s even more critical to prepare for what’s coming up.
It was a cold morning, but with southerly breeze laden with moisture coming up from the river’s bottom land, I opened the doors to the old trailer and let the gentle zephyrs whip through. Sort like spring cleaning, only, not so so much work on my part. I straightened a few items out, and I got a package the other afternoon, so I was tossing trash into the box. Plus a few extraneous items that are no longer required. Not really housecleaning, just unloading a few items that no longer need to be here. That how to prepare for the coming year, and, in the next couple of days, it will proves helpful to clear out a few items that you no longer find useful. This is a preparation for the next year. And the party? That, too, however you choose to celebrate.
Gemini: I was fishing the other afternoon. Looking for bass, I settled for a tiny perch who got himself onto my hook. I was reeling him in, when I noticed that there was large, dark object moving under the water. Snapping Turtle, of epic proportions. I’ve caught him before. He has a punked-out lip, sporting a few piercing objects, courtesy of me. He was interested in the wounded fish. A little light breakfast snack? Before I had too much time to react, the turtle opened its huge jaws and gulped down that tiny perch.
My line was stuck in the turtle’s mouth, but as he swallowed the fish whole, I mean, I could see the neck bulge, fish went down whole, I didn’t worry about my line. I’ve heard of using perch for bass bait, but I didn’t know I could also attract big, mean, prehistoric-looking turtles, too. When I started to relate this, I realized that this tale was a singular event, something only I got to see. That’s the way we’re flying in Gemini — all by ourselves.
I think there’s another point in the turtle and bait story, but I’m not sure what it is. I was more interested, from a naturalist’s point-of-view, and I realized, bereft of camera, that no one would see this image. Like Gemini, flying solo.
Cancer: As soon as Taurus starts, heave yourself a big old heartfelt Cancer sigh of relief. Mars is still cooking in a compatible water sign, and between the sun in Taurus, and Mars making hot water, plus the movement of the moon, you’re sitting pretty.
Maybe not the greatest place in the world, but from where I am, it’s still looks good. There’s been a frantic pace, and you can just slow that one down a little bit. Step back, step away, or just move yourself one step further backwards from the source of the heat. Or the problem. It’s like standing around a campfire, or standing in the kitchen, next to the hot stovetop. Easiest way to cool off? Just take a single step backwards. It’s not that hard.
Don’t make this difficult, and don’t make this any harder on yourself. At least, don’t make it any more trying than it has to be. Think relief, and look for it. Could be a simple action, something as simple as taking one backwards step, just to properly asses the situation. And, to come up with a solution. I know you can. The planets are weighing in your favor.
Leo: I like a singular spice: hot. Hotter is better, for me. I came across a description of some specialty branded hot-sauce, and the description I got from a buddy? "That stuff was so hot — they ran a string from the bottle and heated the house for the whole winter — from that one jar." Sounds like good stuff to me. Sounds appealing in the "hurt me so good" way I like my food.
Over the years, as I’ve aged, or fallen apart, I’ve also found that I can’t always take a heaping portion of that hot sauce, not all at once. In large portions, I miss the delicate, piquant smoky flavor imparted from the sauce-maker’s expertise when working with the (cayenne & habanera) peppers. On a scale of 1 to 100, this was rated around ten thousand. Possibly painful to some. Take a hint from me, and take a smaller portion of whatever since it is that you’re looking at. Whatever condiment for the Leo life at this moment? Consider that the stuff was hot enough to heat a whole house with nothing but a string running from the bottle.
Virgo: I was doing some laundry, just throwing sheets into the dryer, and when I went to fetch them, out tumbled a tiny split-shot sinker. How that wound up with bedding, I don’t know. And I wouldn’t want to think that I was airing dirty laundry, but that’s where I found it. It was a small sinker, and I tend to use them when I’m trying to fool fish. I’ll adjust the weight of the bait with just such a sinker, and typically, I’ll have one or two of those in my pocket from fishing. The curious part, to me, was how that wound up with the bedding. That part didn’t make any sense.
If I was washing shorts, or fishing shirts with the bedding, then a clear line would be apparent. Some days, some evenings, in my case, a clear line of ascent — or descent — isn’t so clear. How such an item ended up where it ended up? A conundrum, at the very least. Some might also call me clueless, and I’d like to think that no Virgo would ever bear such a label. But there are events, on certain occasions, and no easily discernible route from the starting point to the conclusion can be found.
I’m sure a good Virgo can rationalize how it happened, but sometimes that takes on the air of rhetoric. Sometimes, it could be a little thing, like a split shot sinker, items wind up where they don’t seem to belong. Way it is.
Libra: The sun is moving from Aries into Taurus. That’s a welcome spot of relief for the Libra set. It’s also going to change your focal point. What you’ve been concentrating on lately? To the point of distraction, quite possibly? Perhaps focused on a matter that doesn’t warrant that much mental horsepower? Obsessed might be a better word.
I wouldn’t tend to think of a Libra as an obsessive type, but the last couple of weeks, there’s been that element, more like a flavor, rather than a true obsession. But it’s a close call. Out of that frenzied and blinkered thinking, though, there’s a gradually dawning of thought. Happens in the next couple of days as you begin to see the folly of some of the time spent on that one problem. The obsessive qualities. However, there’s also a readily apparent solution to a problem, too, that will be clear. Pay attention and clear your head a little. Easy solutions are a Libra specialty and now’s a good time to enjoy your expertise.
Scorpio: Observing nature, it’s one of the ways I enjoy where I live, or wherever I find myself at any given time. The small incidents, like watching fish in the creek. I was on a bridge, on the north side of the hike and bike trail, and I leaned over to watch the perch in the creek. I noticed a few stray bass had joined the herd of perch. I was watching one in particular, as he looked likely target for me, maybe I’d bring a pole one day and get his picture, and then, he darted. At first, I couldn’t tell the species, but as he moved, in a flash, he opened up his large mouth and swam sideways to grab something to eat.
Watching a Large Mouth Bass flex open its scoop-like jaw, gobble something down, is a remarkable sight. Doing so sideways in the shallow water? With that long, black strip down one side? It was, to me, a thing of beauty. A quick move, too. Like I’d expect from a Scorpio. One minute, at rest, and then, with a flick of the Scorpio tail, suddenly descending on prey? Just like that, pop it in your mouth. Fish never blinked. Didn’t miss a trick. As soon as it was over, the little black bass was back at rest, casually looking for the next suspect. Like a good Scorpio? At least, like the way to approach this week? Sure.
Sagittarius: Full meal deal? A couple of days ago, I was teasing a pair of young, black bass with various plastic baits. They’d nip at the trick worms and other wiggly bits I threw at them, rather brave young fish. Not very long, barely a foot, or so, hence the adolescent moniker. Both male, near as I could tell, and well on their way to being nice fish. With one arrangement, the hook was too big. With another, the bait itself was too large, and they couldn’t get their wee large mouths around the purported food source. Didn’t stop them from trying, though. Didn’t stop me from trying, either.
So I went back, a day later, shady spot, tree hanging down from the shoreline, almost touching the water. I threaded a live worm on a hook, and a few minutes later, I had the first one. Quick photo, and back in the river. A few minutes later, different fish, same spot.
It took me several tries to find the correct combination of elements, bait, line, sinker, what baits didn’t work, what baits did work, and so on. But I finally got it right. And I’ll be back, to that same spot, some other day when I’m in need of a bass. Some days, nothing works better than live bait. Might take a try or two to get what you’re after, but changing the approach, that will help, given where the planets are. Plus the right hook. Always takes the correct equipment to get the job done.
Capricorn: "Are those Piper’s?" I was wandering around in downtown San Antonio, and I’d gone into a hat shop, check the price for a nice, Mexican brim. The guy working checked me out, looked at my head size and then, after a quick once over, apprised my sandals. "Dave was, like, my teacher in High School. He was cool. Is he still around?"
Yes, as a matter of fact, he is still around, and his sandals really are a lifetime sort of footwear. Pretty good stuff. And an interesting connection, too, not where I’d expect it. Which is what the theme for the week is all about. For Capricorn, you’re charged with trying to find connections where there might not be any apparent connections. Like that sales guy in the hat shop. Like the Piper sandals on my feet. Like being on foot in San Antonio. Find some connections that don’t appear to be anywhere near each other. They are in there. If you look. Or, maybe, if you don’t look.
Aquarius: We’re approaching a turning point again. It’s a special time, for the little Aquarius folks. The kindly Aquarius types. It’s s time when you can say, "No." It’s a time when someone — non-Aquarius — approaches you with a proposition. You can just say, "No." You don’t have to accept the deal. If it’s not to your liking? If it’s not an activity you want to be engaged in? If it is effort that you, personally, find distasteful? It’s quite all right to turn down the offer. There are several outcomes from just such an action, but one of them is that the offer comes back again, in about seven to ten days, sweetened up to your liking.
Much more palatable, for you, and for them. Not that the other party’s comfort is your concern, but I’d like to think that you’re concerned with them, too. It might not be an offer you’re declining, but I’m suggesting that you’ve got a chance to put off one particular action. Maybe now, maybe later, but consider that Neptune (in Aquarius) is moving towards being opposite Saturn (in Leo), and as such? Consider that you’re probably getting offers that might not be in your best interest. Consider turning them down.
Pisces: Way off in the east, a storm was gathering, as the clouds were streaked with lightening. Dusk, and I was fishing, at the edge of the lake, just dangling a loose line in the water. I watched as the bats emerged, to forage in the night, then I got to thinking about it. In a few minutes, half hour or so, a big storm would blow through. I knew about it because I’d seen the radar report on the computer weather service thing. But apparently, the bats didn’t see the same radar. And here, I thought, all this time, that bats used radar to navigate at night.
Apparently, their radar wasn’t working as well as the weather one I looked at. As the storm gathered closer, I just tucked the pole under my arm and headed inside. The bats? I don’t know what they did. Wasn’t a fun storm to ride out, I’m sure. I’d prefer to be in the bat cave. With Mars in your sign, and the moon growing dark, and the sun moving into Taurus? Look at the weather map, the radar display, some kind of future indicator, and try to make a more reasonable choice about timing and directions.
