today's lunar eclipse - balancing our sails and scales now

We have a lunar eclipse (moon passes directly behind the sun) today at 5 degrees Scorpio on the fixed star Gacrux.

The Crux constellation signifies guidance in general and it will be rather an important eclipse for many - its effects last for 6 months - and will be reactivated 11/1 when there is the final Uranus square Pluto hit.

So, what the hell does this mean?

Lunar eclipses bring endings or culminations of matters at hand. There is an emphasis on the things we leave behind - a little sadness connected to loss here.

(solar eclipses on the other hand - we have one in a  couple weeks - are all about birth and of courses, births bring on endings, too - but usually with births we are so focused on the new that the old can slip away easily and unmourned - with lunar eclipses there is some mourning going on; sometimes a whole lot of mourning)

If we know where this eclipse transits our birth chart (this can help you figure it out) - we can sometimes make the transition a little smoother. This particular lunar eclipse, because we have that Crux (crossroads) can make the ending even more acute.

The cross also represents balance.

During the next six months, it is important to find a balance in our lives between work and rest. If we have been working too hard then we need to schedule time for rest and replenishment. If we have been resting too much our bodies (or bank accounts) will require change.

The house where the lunar eclipse falls in our chart will show exactly where we need to make a change and will take something away that forces us to adjust our sails/scales and bring things into balance.

We are always reconstructing ourselves choice by choice.

Know that any losses we experience now (and by now I mean 2-3 weeks plus or minus the eclipse) is not a punishment but simply a re-balancing.

There is also some universal connection going on with this eclipse. Neptune would like the stars and planets to connect all of us - no boundaries. But Saturn reminds us we are still on earth, there are only so many hours in the day and the line has to be drawn somewhere - where is the balance missing in our lives?

back to the real world ....

cat and geo vaca - north captiva island

10 Things I Learned on Our Florida Vacation

1.  I MUST get a golf cart

(there are no cars allowed on this island and the golf cart

was wicked fun - I don't want to learn to play golf

and can't support all that green grass watering -

I just want to  drive the flippin' cart/car - what is it called?! - 

SO MUCH FUN)

2. Never wear flip flops when hiking

(I lost mine in wild rushing water - day 1- 

and had to hike 2 miles over hot sand and through dense brush

in just hubby's socks - I will never make 

fun of his socks with sneakers again - I think they saved my life)

3. Everything tastes better cooked on a grill

(even stuff I make, I knew this already, but forgot somehow)

4. The new Harry Potter land at Universal

(yes, we spent one day in Orlando)

is highly overrated

(I convinced hubs we needed to make a 

3 hour drive to Orlando to see Harry -

we had to check out of our beach house on Saturday

and our flight home wasn't until Monday morning 

and we had to drive 3 hours back
to the airport the next day -

I really wanted to experience

what many are calling "the best amusement park ride evah"

I got instantaneous motion sickness

and spent the ride flying from dementors

with my eyes closed, trying not to puke
and missed the whole thing)

5.  I am not afraid to swim in the ocean 

many better swimmers are - for some reason I'm not

maybe because we saw dolphins everyday and I think where

there are dolphins there are no sharks 

(I passed this info on to a few people on the beach 

before realizing it was probably not a good idea

to spread this around since it is most likely that I made it up)

once the dolphins were only about 25 feet away from me

they told me they prefer Pottery Barn to Target,

Trader Joe's to Whole Foods,

and they wish to God we'd stop peeing in the ocean.

6. Next time I will bring half as many clothes

and twice as much food

(don't be scared - I won't be wearing half as many clothes

at one time - I will just be wearing the same things
over and over again because that's what we did)

7. Never buy your first smartphone

right before your vacation

because you will not know how the hell it works and will be
asking 13 year old strangers to help you

8. (this one is hubs lesson not mine)

When new becomes normal, it stops being made of magic

(he got a little bored - although this could be due to the horrific sunburn he suffered

on the very first day - pic is from day 4, yes it was even worse than it looks here)

9. When hubs says he has put on sunblock -

he has not put on sunblock

10. Beach vacations will always

end the same way -

me clinging to the boat and screaming

that something is wrong with the calendar -
it is really only Tuesday and
I have 4 more days ...

and then of course the Island Police,

handcuffs, fingerprints and some crazy woman
demanding of the officers 

"DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!"

 - not because I'm famous of course, but just

because my memory is so bad ....

always believe ... keeping our ears (and heart) open

by tina blue shoes

It feels right to put some words of wisdom and magic out there before I get on the plane tomorrow. I am a nervous flyer and have to get up at 3am for the 6am flight out of Atlantic City (I am so not complaining) - the acupuncturist has a cure for nervous flyers that involved some chinese herbs that look like bb's (yes, the "you'll shoot your eye out" kind) being taped into my ears. I decided the idea of that made me a little more nervous than the actual flight so will be flying ears (and heart) wide open -

have a wonderful weekend everyone!

a new moon in aries and if prone to vacation jealousy close your eyes at this point

Every month the new moon brings an opportunity for us to connect with the energy of intention and opens up a gateway for us to “call in” a new beginning.

(when I talk to hubs about new moons - he says "not another one!", you might be thinking that, too - but it is also a wonderful little reminder that it is never too late to start over ....)

Yesterday's New Moon is in Aries - its magical powers last about 48 hours so get crackin' (first sign of the zodiac, self-starter, high energy and all that jazz) and lots of other planets are in Aries, too, so it feels like a new, new moon.

Walk in the moonlight if you can (there won't be much it's just a sliver now, but it's very powerful).

Make some wishes, (which are different than intentions - they are more magical and trusting I think, without the force of our own will behind them) set some intentions too though, plant some seeds ...

cat's vacation island (north captiva, florida) - please don't hate me

So, hubs and I are flying to Florida for a week, gulf coast - never been - just the two of us - first trip alone since 2007 - we are practically giddy.

Hubs always needs an entirely new wardrobe for vacation - this is the only time he ever thinks about his clothes, so to let him go hog wild (and because I have coupons) we head to Kohls.

I leave him in the men's department and wander around the rest of the store checking out vacuums and kitchen stuff for a long time. Suddenly I remember I am not shopping alone (like usual) and race to the front of the store where I figure he is probably in line to pay (without the coupons).

I look around. No hubs. I head back to the men's department and he is exactly two aisles from where I last saw him. "There is nothing here", he says. "Nothing?", I ask, suspecting exactly where this is headed. "No, let's go to the mall."

Now, this is not a ploy on hub's part to go to the mall - he hates the mall. This is a ploy to go to Sears - to look at fishing gear and not clothes and I am on to him, but since I need sandals and I am feeling vacation giddy I say "ok, the mall is better".

Hubs then spends an hour looking at fishing gear before wandering into the men's section and grabbing the quickest vacation wardrobe ever assembled.

Also while we were at the mall I will report that a woman comes out of the dressing room to talk to her husband. She is wearing a sundress that she had been trying on except she had accidentally left the top half completely unbuttoned.

And so, wearing nothing but a bra underneath, essentially flashes her ladies to the entire store.

Not only that but everyone was looking at her because she had just yelled her husband's name very loudly to get his attention

(it just kind of croaked out - I have no explanation other than possible spring allergies).

Oh, did I mention she was me?

@#%!!!

(dear everyone in the store - that one was for free - next time you all owe me drinks)

Now- my plan is to blog from our trip and include pics with my new smartphone, but we will be on an Island with major shelling potential and mama really, really needs to find some sand dollars so everything is pretty much up in the air at this point ...

I will be thinking about all of you working your little fingers to the bone while I am sitting on the beach drinking margaritas ... please don't hate me (at least I'm thinking of you).