How's that for an eclipse on one's Mercury?

Phew. . .

Well, I survived the plane journey back to England (there were a few dodgy moments on the plane which no one but me seemed bothered by!). I've seen loads of relatives and friends. Eaten way more than I should have. Spent time on the beach. Went to a pow wow and did some dancing. Visited Detroit Zoo. Saw Ray Merriman. I have to say that I'm already aching to go back. The thing I missed the most was being with my Ojibwa family--I've even committed myself to hitting the pow wow trail next summer (one of my lesser known talents is making beaded Indian jewellery). Over the next few days, I'm going to try to catch up a few posts but for now, be content with this nice photo of us dancing at the Black River Pow wow and one with me and my very good childhood friend and mentor Juanita (who remembered me as a joke teller)!

To celebrate having an eclipse on my Mercury, here is a very special Mercury in the 3rd, ruling the sixth Ojibwa joke straight from my Aunt Liz:

An Ojibwa and a Lakota dog are out and about. The Ojibwa dog strolls up to a tree, does his business and resumes frolicking with his Lakota friend. A few minutes later, the Ojibwa dog returns to the place, has a quick sniff then returns. They continue their play but then the Ojibwa dog abruptly stops and goes back to the very same spot. When he returns, the Lakota dog says: "What the hell are you doing?"

The Ojibwa dog says: "Just checking to see if there are any messages!"