This Full Moon in the family-oriented sign of Cancer (Jan. 6, 2023, 3:07 pm PST) brings to mind a story from a 2018 trip to New Zealand. Jonny and I are standing in a tiny house, part of a museum in Okains Bay, a remote village on an out-of-the-way peninsula southeast of Christchurch. We’ve made a pilgrimage here to visit the general store, built by Jonny’s great grandfather … [Read more...]

When my friend's son was small, he talked incessantly. Born with Venus in loquacious Gemini, he jabbered constantly about stories he'd read or what he'd seen on television that morning. His mother is a patient woman, but eventually the sheer quantity of words wore her down. One day, she recalls, driving along with her child chattering away in the passenger seat, she suddenly … [Read more...]

My mom, a robustly optimistic Sun in Taurus person, was fond of saying that it’s the bad times in life that make us appreciate the good ones. That’s a fine theory; but a certain amount of Moon/Pluto, Neptune in Scorpio skepticism persuaded me early on that bad times can, in fact, taint the good ones – by making us distrustful, jaded, and regretful. Consider Adam and … [Read more...]

My friend Alice called me late one Friday afternoon. "I thought you'd be on your way to happy hour," I said; it was her usual Friday post-work ritual to go for drinks with her co-workers. "Nah," she said. "Ramona will be there." Alice and Ramona had once been close friends, but the relationship soured when they became rivals for a coveted sales position in their company. In a … [Read more...]

It's been 25 years since I had a living parent, and I'll admit, there are still days that I miss being someone’s child. However much one is loved by a spouse, friends, or children, there’s something about having a loving parent that makes you feel you’ve always got a soft place to fall. When I see friends my age coping with their ailing parents, though, part of me is … [Read more...]