Monday, December 27, 2010

Mercury Retrograde and Hawaii



As soon I found out our plans for the holidays also included a Mercury Retrograde, I will admit to feeling a bit uneasy. Since I'm new to this phenomenon, let me bring you up to date: A Mercury Retrograde happens three to four times a year when the planet Mercury slows down and appears to stop and move backward. It's an illusion of course, as there is forward movement, but it appears to go backward. I'm told all sorts of things can go wrong - especially electronics, computers, emails get deleted, phone lines go down. 

It is also not a time to make financial decisions, big purchases, or travel. The current retrograde started on December 10th and will end on December 29th - the day after we get home from traveling with our whole family. 

So did I experience anything going wrong?

Where to begin? We were waiting for our luggage at the turnstile at the airport when I got a call that said our phone, internet and cable had been shut off for lack of payment. It appears they sent the bill to the actual unit where people do not live, thus the bill had not been paid. The person who pays the bills didn't notice it had not come in the mail. After considerable time on the phone with the phone company, I was assured it would be partially up and running immediately - the phone would have to wait a few days or a week. 

Next we were supposed to have our "ah ha" moment when we entered the unit as the partial remodel was supposed to be finished. Not. The contractor was still there with all of his equipment. He thought we were arriving the next day, despite being told for months it would be the 16th. His wife still needed to clean. Our partners were also pretty confused by this as they had told him at least a dozen times what day we would arrive. Okay, time for a drink....

My family all arrived and I gave a big thanks to the airplane Gods, but two days later I came down with a terrible chest cold and had to watch as everyone went to the beach and snorkeling. Remaining in bed in Hawaii is not what I had planned. I can do that at home. Luckily my husband took plenty of pictures.



I did have a beautiful view of the water, and was enjoying watching the blue waves - until a big storm came through and turned it a very deep shade of brown. It appears this phenomenon happens about every ten years or so. Runoff from the cane fields swamp the culverts and rush into the ocean. It's brown for about a half mile out - we canceled paddle board and surfing lessons because of murky water. It's not good to be in murky water with predators...



We all fly home tomorrow. I'm praying all goes well. We'll return to rain and snow, gone will be warm breezes. No one will even know I've been gone as I look the same as when I left.

Lest I leave you with the idea I had a terrible time - let me assure you I had a great time. It's how you frame things, after all. I don't have a tiny little voice ask from the side of my bed if I'm still sick first thing in the morning at home. My grandson and family are the best, and I'm so glad we had this time together. My older daughter and son-in-law cooked wonderful, imaginative, meals. My youngest keeps everyone on their toes, and 30th wedding anniversaries only come once in a lifetime.

So you tell me - is this Mercury Retrograde thing really something to consider - or was it all just bad luck? What about you - any lost emails, broken computers, or travel glitches? Any bad colds?


21 comments:

Leah J. Utas said...

Glad you still had a good time. Retro hasn't been so bad for me, but I did get a cold right around the 10th that hit me worse than usual despite the echinacea. I've still got it a bit and the attendant cough strained some intercostal muscles.
As far as I know I haven't had any communications mix ups, but then, how do I really know?

DJan said...

Well, all my plans changed when my friend Emily died in a parachuting accident on the 18th. I flew there on the 21st and returned on the 25th, without incident, but I DID buy a used canopy while there. I won't get a chance to see how it flies until spring, probably, but I'm hoping it will all turn out okay.

Sorry to hear about your cold, and I think I got a mild case of the flu while traveling. Either that, or the grief was hitting me harder than I expected.

Nancy said...

Leah - I've had the same experience with this cold - and you got it right on the 10th!

DJan - Wow, the accident is right in the middle of the retro. It's hard to say if it was the grief or a bug - but one thing is for sure - everything feels worse when you're grieving. Keep a close eye on that new canopy.

Trish and Rob MacGregor said...

A classic merc retro story! But it is all in all you frame it. We were going to eat christmas dinner at 5:30 in the afternoon only to discover that our oven had quit working after about an hour and a half. Raw turkey. We had chicken instead. Now it's a merc retro christmas dinner joke!

Merc turns direct at 2:21 AM EST on dec 30. Hope you're feeling better and hey, at least it will be moving direct for the new year!

Brian Miller said...

glad in the midst you still had a good time...glad it will be over before i travel the first week in january though...smiles.

Wendy said...

Ah, Hawaii - lucky you! I hope that cold goes away.
No retrograde mercury stories. But I do believe in the planets having an effect on us.

Nancy said...

Trish - I've heard that ovens go out more often on holidays than any other time. Mostly because people want to clean them beforehand. Chicken is just as good as turkey, I'm thinking. Glad the retro is almost over!

Brian - Hopefully the storms will have abated by the time your traveling!

Wendy - They have an affect on the tides - why not us? We're mostly water anyway. Not to mention solar flares having an effect on the electromagnetic field..

Nancy said...

Brian - Woops - I meant when you're (not your) traveling. The obsessive compulsive in me had to fix that. :-)

luksky said...

My oven mysteriously quit working on Christmas day...wouldn't turn on at all and it's fairly new and I have never cleaned it. Also, my daughter caught a slight cold the day before Christmas....that's about it for us though. Interesting phenomena. I am going to read up on it.

Hilary said...

Nothing too much. My son had difficulties with a flash drive which had been working just fine all along but suddenly needed reformatting.

I had a strong impulse to completely back up my computer earlier this month, and did so on the 18th without incident. I had no idea about the retrograde.

I hope you're completely on the mend.

Pat said...

Well, I'm flying on the 30th. Is that good because the retrograde is over?

You would think a Mercury Retrograde was happening ALL THE TIME if you heard about our travels!

Kay said...

all of the above, but that's just life- in general.

cold or no cold... sounds wonderfully blessed!

Marguerite said...

Sorry you didn't feel well, but glad that you enjoyed yourself anyway. This MR wasn't as bad as most, for me. A few weird glitches with electronics, and two city-wide power outages, and a mouse in my kitchen! Eeek! Bon voyage!

Nancy said...

luksky - Having the oven go out on Christmas would be a huge inconvenience! Glad your daughter's cold was a small one. Mine is not so small. :-(

Hilary - I've heard computer problems are one of the biggest retro issues.

Pat - LOL! I've followed along with you and some of the issues you've dealt with - I have to agree. Especially with tires...

Kay - Yes. I am very blessed - knock on wood...

Marguerite - That reminds me of a huge scream from the kitchen the other night - my youngest who is very bug adverse came across a praying mantis. We were able to put the cute guy outside unharmed, but I can't imagine what she would have done if it had been a mouse. Two outages falls into the retro catagory!

Mental P Mama said...

LOL....this retrograde business always gets me worried. And then life just happens;) So glad you had the time together...that's what it is all about, and you remind us that every time we stop by....Happy New Year!

Rob-bear said...

I'm not sure whether it had to do with Mercury, but I had a huge "retrograde" experience, what basically wiped me out over Christmas. (Too long to include here.)

Hope nothing in 2011 is retrograde for you!

37paddington said...

I can't wait for Mercury's retrograde to end! I feel all out of sorts, mechanical things don't perform as expected, signals are crossed. glad we weren't traveling after all!

but as you say, it's all about what we choose to focus on. the humans in my life, they are magic.

happy holidays and hope you are all better.

Jayne Martin said...

I've got to say I don't put much faith in the whole Mercury thing.
i am sorry you got sick, but it seems like you still had a blessed and wonderful time so I say screw Mercury. ;)

The Good Cook said...

Nancy,
The Merc Retro may explain why I feel like I have taken two steps back, one step forward and two more steps back on my journey. In addition, we had a huge blizzard here in NJ, literally a snow hurricane. Plans had to be postponed and finally cancelled. I have a lot of uneaten food going to waste in my fridge and have a bit of a stomach bug for the last two days.
Hopefully my son, DIL and two grandlittles are coming tomorrow and they will eat some of this food! I hate waste and my town is virtually shut down because of the snow....
Looking forward to the end of the Merc thing...

Linda

Leilani Tresise said...

Ive been thinking about you! can u believe the brown water!? needless to say im not a happy island gal!!

s.m. said...

I wish you a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year !