Mercury makes me his bitch

Yesterday I was going to post a happy Friday the thirteenth to Todd (I know he thinks those dates are cool), but I didn’t. So happy belated, Todd.

I myself had adamantly stated that I would not be driving anywhere on Friday the thirteenth…not so much because I’m superstitious as because I think people are even crazier than usual during times they think they have permission to be crazy (like, say, during a full moon or on a Friday the thirteenth or when some sports team wins whatever sports teams win or when Project Runway returns). However, being an Aries, I didn’t finish what I started on Thursday, so I found myself having to leave The Compound on Friday–even though a little voice in my head kept hissing, You could put this off until Monday.

Ignoring Little Voice, I fortified myself with a car full of three dogs and a Timothy. And this is when Mercury, Mr. Retrograde himself, began to snicker and say, “Do not doubt my ways, woman, for they are strong, especially during Gemini’s days of joy and joyness.”

At Tim’s bank, I went inside with him. The air conditioner wasn’t working. The employees had fans blowing everywhere, but trust me, a building that relies on air conditioning is not cooled by little fans. The air was sticky, heavy, and I said, “Going back to the air conditioned car with the dogs! See ya!” and left Tim to fend for himself.

Later, we left Tim’s hot bank and went to my bank only to find signs taped in the windows that said, “Temporarily closed. Technical difficulties.”

“Ack,” I said to Tim. “It’s YOUR planet!”

“What?” Tim said, handing over the cigarette I demanded even though I’m “not smoking.”

“Mercury. Gemini’s planet. It’s in retrograde and wreaking havoc on electrical equipment.”

“Huh,” Tim said. “It hasn’t been bothering ME.”

Well, of course not. When their bad boy planet goes retrograde, it’s a great time for Geminis and Virgos to get all introspective and find truths and wisdom within themselves. With that in mind, I had an in-depth conversation with Jim (Virgo) last night. As we talked about the traits of our sun signs in relation to a work situation he’s having, he asked, “If Aries always thinks she’s right, and Virgo knows he is, and we disagree on something, who should be listened to?”

“It depends on the situation,” I said. “If it’s a matter of intellect, a person would do well to heed the analytical Virgo. If it’s a matter of emotion, then it’s wise to listen to Aries’ instincts.”

He seemed satisfied with this answer, and I meant it sincerely. Aries people may be impetuous and rush headlong at life (like the ram in my user picture), but as the babies of the zodiac, though we sometimes survive on sheer instinct, we DO survive. Even thrive.

Unfortunately, all my head-butting games with life have a price. Today I got a migraine just after I woke up. The headache itself wasn’t bad, and once the visual problems subsided, I called another friend I’ve been missing. This is when Mercury decided to make me his bitch again. When Mercury is in retrograde, communication breaks down. I couldn’t find the right words to express myself effectively. Maybe it was the headache. Maybe it was because for the past eight months, my world had to get very small as two things consumed my time and energy. Shifting my focus and my priorities are slow processes. I’ll get there, but in the meantime, a failure with language is daunting to a writer.

A few things make me feel better about all of this. One is that I have an idea for another Coventry novel roiling around inside me. As situations and characters begin to emerge from the muck of my subconscious, I know words can clean them up and make them shiny. Likewise, I’m hearing occasional snorts and mutters from the Timothy James Beck writing team–the sleeping beast is waking up, and I always look forward to seeing what adventures that may lead to.

And finally, today I saw a package on my lawn just inside the gate. I knew what I desperately wanted it to be, but I was so sure it wasn’t that I refused to go out and pick it up. Instead, I took my headache back to bed. When Tom came home later, he brought the oversized envelope to me and said, “THIS looks interesting!”

And it was what I’d hoped for.

The front cover says, “You are cordially invited to fall in love…”

Description from the back cover:

Coventry, Texas, bills itself as the “tiny town with the big heart.” Amid its picturesque storefronts and open-minded locals, one woman in search of a temporary hideaway might find much more than she hoped for…

Jandy Taylor’s grandfather always teased her about not being able to finish anything. So perhaps it’s not a shock that a few days before her wedding to soap star Hudson Blake, Jandy postpones the ceremony and hitches a ride to Coventry, Texas, with a stranger named Sam, a dog named Sue, and an overwhelming desire to escape–if only for a few days…

Coventry is in the middle of its famed annual Godiva Festival, making it the perfect place for Jandy to be carefree and invisible. That is until the press dubs her a “runaway bride.” Now, with an eager groom, her PR-hungry mother, and a swarm of paparazzi on her trail, Jandy has to figure out if it’s possible that a town, a life, and a man she hardly knows could suddenly feel an awful lot like home…

Time will tell if I found the right words back then. Because…EDIT: I had to edit this post about ten times after leaving out whole sentences, using the wrong words, committing typos, etc.