The lights are NEVER all Green at the same time!

Hi -- hope your week's been going well! I am SO ready for allergy season to be over and done with!

Visited the Texas Renaissance Festival last weekend -- brought my almost one-year-old grand daughter who dressed up as a fairy (pink onesie, pink nylon netting wings and skirt). She had a ball -- it was one of those perfect weather weekends and the crowds all came out. I wasn't expecting that big a crowd -- Texas was playing Oklahoma in football and I figured that would keep a lot of people at home watching TV. Didn't happen!

Anyway, she really got a kick out of watching all the colorful hullaballoo (and there was plenty of it!). Discovered a new way to drive up there, too. About 70 miles of empty country roads -- really enjoyable and sight-scenic-worthy. Saved us an at least an hour in missed traffic jams!

My in-laws came up that weekend -- my niece brought her laptop which was displaying a white screen only when she turned it on. (Don't know why she thought I would know how to fix it!) Anyway, we Googled "Toshiba Laptop White Screen" and were astonished not only to find explanations of what caused the problem, but also step-by-step photo-diaries of how to fix it! Took about 15 minutes and a couple of jewelry-sized screwdrivers and everything was going again (it was just a loose cable). The internet is wonderful!

How about we get onto that reading!

We'll again pull two cards -- the first suggests something we should focus on for the week. The second suggests things we might consider in order to fully benefit from the attributes of the first card. Our cards this week are:




Knight of Pentacles





Eight of Swords






You know, it sure seems like we've been seeing a lot of Knights lately. This might suggest we consider our projects or wishes that are still in the formative state -- we know what we want, but we haven't quite gotten around to getting things in gear to make them happen yet.

Let's start with our Knight of Pentacles. This is a very strong opinioned card -- he has a position and isn't that open to changing it ... or even listening to alternatives. He probably walks around on his heels because he's digging them in all the time!

As you might expect, he's not a risk-taker. He's very cautious and is hesitant to make a move until every single loose end is addressed and resolved.

Well -- what would you think the end result would be? Do you think this card suggests someone who's ready to leap into action? Or someone who never seems to take that first step because conditions just aren't right yet?

There's a local radio commercial that asks "Are you one of those people who won't go on a drive until you know all the lights are green?" If you're waiting for that -- you'll never get out of the driveway ... because all the lights are NEVER green! You always will find obstacles and issues along your way. Waiting until they don't exist just ensures you never get started.

Let's look at our second card, the Eight of Swords for some additional information. I love Pamela Coleman-Smith's image for this card -- note the lady tied up; her eyes are bound and she's trapped inside a "cage" of swords! Sounds pretty dire, right?

Well, it does -- until you look again at the image. The cords that bind her are pretty loose -- she can easily work herself free and can then remove the mask from her eyes. The "cage" of swords is a pretty loose cage, too -- it's easy to walk between two of the swords and escape. In actuality, this woman is not trapped at all. She's only trapped if she gives up -- but can go free with just a little work on her part.

And that's the message of this card -- to consider whether the obstacle we feel may be blocking us is really that large an obstacle after all. Aren't there ways around it? Don't we always have alternatives? We only lose if we give up our will and our right to choose.

And maybe that's what this reading is suggesting -- perhaps our Knight is feeling blocked and won't move until he sees the road clear ahead of him. Since this will likely never happen, this is a trap of his own devise. If he wants to move ahead, then he should just begin. Difficulties will arise, but he can deal with them as they do. Movement doesn't guarantee success -- but no moving guarantees failure.