"My love’s/More rich than my tongue."
Shakespeare’s King Lear [I.i.62-3]
Libra: I was sitting outside a coffee shop. A young couple walked by, made inquiries about food and libation and then opted for a place a little further down the street. They weren’t interested in beer or wine, nor the gods’ elixir: coffee. Nope, they wanted tequila. Margaritas. Good ones. "The kids are with his parents for the afternoon," the wife (or girlfriend) was explaining. "So where are the margaritas best?" He finished her thought. She nodded. Another guy nodded and started explaining the choices in the neighborhood.
I’m not saying that tequila is the best way to go. I’m not sure, I’m not much of a drinking man these days. But perhaps an adult hour, or an adult indulgence, or perhaps, just parking the kids with the parents, an ultimate revenge for both parties, all three, really, maybe something like that is called for. The couple, their first choice was closed, it being a Monday, but that didn’t mean the Tequila expedition was sunk. Far from it, the attempt at pleasure just got a little more exciting. If at first it doesn’t work out? Consider there are many options. Perhaps some random sampling of whatever you like is called for.
Scorpio: "Man, she was just mean as rattlesnakes." Buddy of mine, I was sitting in the front seat of a truck, he was driving, and while I forget, I think we were headed out to fish. The way I recall that one comment. I wrote it down, not like I haven’t heard it before, just in the context, it was funny. And deadly accurate. Problem being, if you’re not too careful, you’re going encounter just such a person, mean as rattlesnakes, coming up.
You’re primed for such an encounter. The problem being, the point is, that the people who are just mean as rattlesnakes? They can be just as much of an inconvenience as a rattlesnake. Pit Vipers in the New World tend to be poisonous, but not fatally so. Huge inconvenience, though. Rattlesnakes themselves have a reputation of being angry, too. They strike just out of vengeance and attitude. Just plain mean.
Deadly? Not so much, and not a lot these days. But a miserable pain. And mean, at times. Same way some of us deal with rattlesnakes is the way you deal with the next few days, step gently, listen for a telltale buzz, and try not to get bit. I’m not sure I should mention that a handgun is handy, as well.
Sagittarius: I’m a fan of some fusion cuisine. The other evening, we happened, for the second time, into a place that had an Ahi Tuna Sampler that was a good example of this successful blending of cultures: raw ahi tuna with guacamole on a tortilla chip. With a touch cilantro and wasabi. So it was a cross between sushi and chips with dip. Hotness? Factored in with the wasabi. Good way to mix and combine elements that seem like fun. Tastes good, too.
So it’s all about fusing together elements that might live harmoniously side-by-side. Sometimes, this is a great experiment that ends with a new and improved dish. Other times? Not so much. One girl I know, not Sagittarius, works at a local coffee shop. She was mixing a "Blueberry Pumpkin-Spice Mocha Frappucino, cold, blended, with whip." Some efforts, suffice it to say, might be less successful. But there has to be a willingness to try. "You know, it wasn’t bad, it tasted, like, cough syrup, only, without the drowsiness." Have to be willing to try. Might fail, might not. Might want that icy concoction after treating wasabi like it was guacamole.
Capricorn: "I’m sure, no good will come of this," moans a Cap buddy. But you get such rare events like what’s going on over the next couple of days, it’s a chance, an opportunity. I want something to fall out of the sky, land in your Capricorn lap, and then, you have something to work with, and from there, another break. Another step forward. Perhaps, another piece to the puzzle of your very existence?
"I’m sure, no good will come of this," moans a Cap buddy. I’m in the opposite mood. I think something wonderful shall happen. Yes, I know about Mercury heading into apparent retrograde motion. I know that’s not supposed to be good, especially when it happens in another Cardinal Sign, but wait there’s still a break. Saturn and Jupiter have this on again/off again thing going on. It’s good. It’s a chance, an opening that you can exploit.
"I’m sure, no good will come of this," moans a Cap buddy. I’m getting tired of the refrain and by now? Maybe you should look for something good, too.
Aquarius: I call it the "phone grip." It’s a way some people will grasp a phone, while they are in a public place, so that the numbers on the screen aren’t visible. I’ve watched it before, and it’s the body English, or hand-signal for someone to say, "I’d like a little privacy here."
I’ll respect that. But I’m also a curious one, and if the person is shielding something from my eyes, I want to know what it is. Nosy little beggar, huh. It could be the 4-digit code you have to use to access the email. It could be a text message painfully typed out on a phone’s number pad, or, it could be a deep, dark secret. Using a phone in public should have a degree of decorum. Expecting privacy in a public place? Therein is the problem. Hence the phone grip. Do you have a phone grip?
Pisces: Can’t say "fish or cut bait," already used that one. However, I’d like to suggest this is a time to fish. Red Drum is a favorite along the Texas Coast. Locally known as Redfish, though, I seldom, if ever, see the "red" color. It’s a delightful fish to catch, reel in, and the big ones, when they get on a run, it’s a wonderful feeling as the fish is fighting back. The line unspools from the reel, the fish takes 50 or 70 feet of fishing line with it, and then it’s a fight, a carefully orchestrated struggle between man and nature.
I’ll be honest, the fish sometimes wins. As the Red Drum come in to spawn, or feed, or whatever their life cycle and biological clock tells them to do, I try to work in one weekend for fishing. It’s fun, it’s fair, and often times, the fish win. But I’ll be fishing. Not cutting bait. As the week unspools, there’s a high keening noise, part of it is wind, part of it is taut fishing line, and all of that noise is here, in Pisces. Good or bad? You get to decide.
Aries: In South Texas, it’s not cooled off. There was one morning when some coastal clouds threatened rain, and the southerly breezes made it feel almost like fall. Sort of. Not really, but almost. Close, but not quite. It’s also been a little cooler. Not so much as to really count or notice, but the cooler weather — cooler weather is a relative term — makes it feel like there will be a break to the oppressive summer heat.
I can well imagine that this is what it feels like in Aries, too. Waiting to catch a break, any kind of a break, and that’s really what this message is about. It’s about taking what signs you can see, and doing your best to see them as a positive influence. Is it really a few degrees cooler? Was there really a hint of rain? Was that moisture in the clouds really going to turn into rain? Or was it all a hoax, a cosmic joke by the weather, just to make us feel secure? Hurricane, threat or problem?
It’s all a guessing game, but how you react to the stimuli, that’s the point. The coming Fall Equinox marks a turning point in the calendar and a similar turning point for Aries.
Taurus: I get the impression that that there’s a self-help book for everyone. I only wished I could write it. Or write one that’s a big-seller. Then I could do the book-tour, get paid lots of money and help a greater number of people. But I’m not able to come up with help for my own life, so I don’t know that I can come up with anything for other people, as well.
I was thinking about the self-help book metaphor because there was this one book, and I thought it was pretty sad, nothing be recycled self-help material, nothing new, and not even artfully presented. But that one book helped a friend of mine. He was walking around, touting this as the greatest realization he’d ever made. I flipped through the book, sampled some of the style, got nauseated, and I skipped it. But it helped my buddy. Changed his thinking. Changed his way of seeing everything. It changed his life. That sorry, no-count, poor-excuse for a self-help book?
This isn’t about any specific book. I always figure it helps to start with a blueprint about life, what a natal astrology chart is about, but that’s my bias, clear and simple. And it was my bias that called my buddy’s life-saving self-help book crap. What’s going to work, though, for gentle Taurus friends, these days? Skip common wisdom and what the masses say. Just because I don’t like a book for ethical and aesthetic reasons? Doesn’t mean it’s not good for your Taurus self.
Gemini: I was watching a friend of mine give her cat a pill. Wasn’t easy. Having performed in a similar capacity from time to time, myself, I understood. Which is also why I was observing and not participating. I’m not suggesting that there’s a bitter pill for Gemini to swallow. I’m thinking more about my old cat and how she would eat around the pill that was carefully concealed in her favorite food. Which only meant that I had to shove the pill down her throat which only meant that I had to question why I never had her claws pulled out.
All of this was going through my mind as I watched my friend stroke, pet, "scritch," then grab and pop a pill down the cat’s gullet. One smooth move. I don’t think I could do the pet and coddle then, once the pet’s confidence is gained, hog-tie, pry open the mouth with its fangs, and administer the medicine. Don’t see that happening, not me. I was thinking about cats and medicine, though, as a way to get through Gemini. Bitter pill? Maybe one you have to administer? Consider my friend’s motions, unperturbed, unexcited, just swift and sure. If you can gain their confidence? And then shove it in? Goes much easier.
Cancer: I’ve just got one simple way to explain how this feels, see, ever think of the right smart-ass, ironic, in-your-face, comeback or retort? After the person has walked away? Like about two minutes later? Just after they’ve humiliated you? Then you think of the perfect response? Yes, that’s what this is all about.
Between the Moon and Mercury, you’re stuck. You do think of the best way to answer that comment or action, that disparaging remark that needs a smart-aleck answer? Only, because of whatever planet you want to pin this on, that answer doesn’t pop into your head until it’s too late.
They’ve walked away, left, out of ear-shot, whatever. Save it. There will come a time when you can use it. Maybe, just maybe, you’re being saved from taking a bad situation and making it worse by making your ill-timed retort. Perhaps it’s better if they don’t hear it. Doesn’t stop that frustrating sense of inequity, but justice will be served. Eventually.
Leo: "Oh dear lord, I can’t remember today, am I the good one or the evil one?" It was a client, trying to make the most of a bad situation. I’d have to agree, and I thought it was rather amusing. But then, I’m easily amused on some days.
It was one of those situations where there was no right answer. No really wrong answer either, but I’m sure, who ever was on the receiving end of the Leo behavior was going to call it all evil. Even though it wasn’t really evil at all. I thought it was good.
And that’s this week’s conundrum for the fine Leo crowd. Good one or bad one? I’ll guess it depends on where you’re at within the moment, but I tend to think it’s all good. Although, the recipient might not agree with us. That’s also not what matters. While last week was all about not having enough minions, this week is all about how you motivate your minions. I tend to think of the Leo crowd as the good one, all the time, except when being the bad one is better.
Virgo: I was running low on postal stamps. One of the superstores, one of those places where they sell coffee and sundry groceries by the pallet? They had a deal. It had a roll of 100, stamps were one or two pennies off. That means, to buy a roll of 100 stamps, I’d save one dollar.
I didn’t really need anything else, so I had to think about it. Borrow a car. Fill the car with gas. Drive maybe a dozen miles round trip. To save either one or two dollars? Does this make sense?
I’m at the post office several times a week, pick up the mail and sort through the offers, like, I might be a winner, or that company who keeps insisting that I’ve won a new Mercedes-Benz. Some restrictions apply, I’m sure.
