Hudson Valley Astrologer

“First you learn the instrument, then you learn the music, then you forget all that st and just play.” ~ Charlie “Yardbird” Parker When I was in my twenties going on thirty, I had one of those visceral dreams that stay with you, even after many years of waking and sleeping, then waking again. The…

“You’re not perfect, sport. And let me save you the suspense: this girl you’ve met isn’t perfect either. But the question is whether or not you’re perfect for each other.” ~ Sean Maquire in Good Will Hunting As a rule, if I watch a series on TV or take in a movie, once is enough.…

“Knock on wood is a saying for good luck. I think that started when someone went to someone’s door to see if someone was home. ‘I really hope Joe is home, knock on wood.’” ~ Mitch Hedberg Superstition confuses cause and effect. If I carry a shiny amethyst stone in my pocket, the illuminated purple…

“The year is a stallion running through twelve changes; the month is a mare that bears a foal in thirty days; the day is a horse with four feet, white, red, yellow, and black; the hour is a swift-footed steed that gallops through sixty steps.” ~ Sri Aurobindo Ever since I was a young boy…

“Every man desires to live long, but no man wishes to be old” ~ Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels The odds of you living to 100-years-old as I tap out this message are presently less than 1% in 2025. If you were a woman and a person of color, then you’d have slightly better odds at…

“Take for example the anagram POCATELDIMC. You can work over these letters for hours, trying system after system of rearrangement in order to discover the scrambled word. Try, instead, just looking at the anagram with a relaxed mind, and in a very short space of time your brain will deliver the answer without the slightest…

“A house is made with walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson We were FaceTiming just the other day, swapping weekend warrior stories about the exploits of our endless home improvement projects. Alexander was knee-deep in tile dust, wielding a wet saw with the precision of an…

“I know for certain, that before I was humbled I was like a stone lying in deep mire, and he that is mighty came and in his mercy raised me up and, indeed, lifted me high up and placed me on top of the wall.” ~ Saint Patrick My grandfather, on my mother’s side, died…

“There is a difference between being connected and being present.” ~ Simon Sinek Looking out through five large windows forming a glass wall in my “Great Room,” I see the hilly outline of the Catskills, where gray skies meet foothills through a veil of hemlocks and black walnut trees. Yet, as my gaze shifts to…

“The phoenix must burn to emerge.” ~ Janet Fitch Success is not necessarily an objective result. Yet holding onto subjective or personal values—what truly matters beyond wealth, awards, and titles—is an exceedingly difficult path in a world wired to prioritize social status and measurable accomplishments. The apparent ‘failure’ of my first marriage was one of…