The Story So Far

So I landed in Phoenix just in time for sunset and checked into the beautiful Wild Horse Pass Resort. 

After such a long trip, I was tempted to "hit the sack" (how long has it been since I've said this??) but I didn't want to miss anything!! 

The first person I bumped into was the gorgeous Frank Clifford!! Then I saw Frances Clynes and Poul Madsen and it started to feel like I had never left London!! I tried to stay up until midnight (that would be 8am London time!!) but I fell a little short of the mark. When I woke up four hours later, I was absolutely ravenous. I thought "This is America where nothing is ever closed!" so I went back downstairs on the scrub for grub only to find everything was shut. So what's a traveller to do? Room service!! The menu said "two eggs" but from what was served, I could only come to the conclusion that the hens here in Phoenix had to be ten feet tall. Never mind gila monsters, scorpions and rattlesnakes, the animal I'm most afraid of is giant chickens (I also had chicken at the Rawhide Restaurant which confirmed my theory). Breakfast was delivered by a smiling (!!) and very polite server who was so sweet and genuine I thought I would never want to leave Phoenix. British workers take note!

In the middle of all this, was my talk (the main reason I'm here) and it was well received and people that I've spoken to are intrigued by astrology in education. So I was really optimistic that some good was going to come from networking. Little did I know. . .

In the evening, I re-connected with some super cool people I had met earlier in the day at the poolside bar. One was an astrologer explaining to a non astrologer that the Moon had just ingressed into Scorpio. On the TV, there was an interview with the bouncy Morgana the Kissing Bandit. I couldn't resist saying: "And there's your Scorpio in Moon moment!!" We've been hanging out together ever since. One is NY astrologer, Tisch Aitken who has invited me to stay with her in Manhatten after SOTA!! Whoo hoo!!

On Saturday I was doing a bit better with the old jet lag and I woke up at 7am and hit the pool. I was joined later by Tisch and her friend Kim. Together we are the Witches of Eastwick waiting for our Jack Nicholson!

So as the morning turned into the afternoon, we noticed that the bar staff were starting to stare at the skies very intensely and then started to take the umbrellas down. What's up? we wondered. Turns out, there was a storm coming. I looked at the skies carefully and rubbed some more sunscreen on. Whatever was coming would probably blow over. But then the clouds got quite dark but this only meant it wasn't so hot so we stayed by the pool. All the while, the bar staff huddled together as if planning something. Every now and again, a little raindrop fell on us. Then it started to rain a little harder--and then whoooooosh, the dust blew in and we headed for cover. And then the heavens opened.  Eventually we were shooed (in a very nice way) back to main hotel and we got DRENCHED even though we were only out for a few minutes!! It was an amazing storm that we watched (dripping wet) from the safety of the hotel. It was a doozey. Lots of flash floods, lots of soaked and excited people and lots of hotel workers talking in hushed whispers. Luckily, the storm blew over but we heard there had been funnel clouds in the area. Funnel Clouds! I had forgotten about those.

The ISAR banquet was great fun as it was hosted by the very funny Michael Lutin. I loved the way the America astrologers refer to each other as "our tribe" or "our community". In true Uranian style, no astrologer feels excluded from the herd.

With my tour of The Grand Canyon, Sedona and Las Vegas now booked (as well as a ticket to see David Copperfield!!), I was feeling amazing. I had dinner with Brooklyn astrologer Samuel Reynolds--whom I always wanted to meet (what an incredible man!!)--and I was asked to speak in Austin Texas by Naomi Bennett, the president of the Texas based group. How synchronous that I'm going to be visiting an old friend the day before--I don't have to adjust my itinerary!

So it continues to be a trip that is just miracle after miracle. Thank you Transit Jupiter on my Natal Mercury!