Mecury is in Retrograde -- Rejoice!

"Whatever that means," I think to myself when my friend and spiritual advisor, Constancia, delivers the astrological bad news.

"Things are going to break and go wrong for the next couple of weeks," she adds, "so be careful."

 When I stop to think about it, I realize she may be right. Mine and others more than fair share of things going wrong seems to have grown larger in the last few days.

A sleeping man is swallowed by the earth beneath his bed; law makers think it's a good idea to throw Head Start kids onto the streets; my computer crashes; friend, neighbor, and kindred spirit Philip decides to move to England; my son hits a parked car; the buckle on my bike shoe breaks mid-ride.

While evidence of the world going to hell in a hand basket is both my default way of seeing things and never in short supply, I opt to widen my view. My remaining cat (the other was taken by a coyote) loves me (though not as much as she loves Kyle). I still have enough cold, hard coins to obtain a burrito (bean) between classes. I have wonderful friends who delight in making fun of me. The list is pretty long if I work at stretching it.

Yes, I am not in a position to join my affluent brethren on their ski trips to Durango or yoga sessions in Bali, but I can jump in my truck and drive to Eloy, thirty miles up the road, home of The Whopper.

Life is good. In the state of grace and gratitude, rather than envy and grasping, I hope to loosen my grip on all I think I control or possess.

And Mercury is helping me along in my lessons on letting go of even the modest gifts the universe has given me. At 56, it is time to practice detachment, I am told. Things, The Body, Relationships -- All -- will soon be history. The only logical response is to surrender, no, embrace, the decline and loss.

In the spirit of that old Mercurial messenger of wrack and ruin himself, George W. Bush, I say "Bring it on," just in little ways, por favor.