the weather inside me

down and under with the scorpio moon

A couple of thoughts for this Scorpio Moon day.

"I think he knew that, through his own pain, his own suffering, his own anxiety, his own love, and his own journey, he could relate to people in an intimate way. . . . He was one of the most humble men I ever met and one of the men most tormented with anxiety. . . . At the same time he was one of the most confident men I ever met." - Brian Carroll, psychotherapist and former Franciscan priest

Anyone who's taken up the mantle of service to mankind inevitably hit an wall in their work. Perhaps it's mere enthusiasm that drove them to their cause, or perhaps they've had deeper, nobler inspirations for their work. However they're motivated, they sooner or later run into a massive obstruction that challenges everything they believed about their intentions and their purpose.

On one side of this wall is every belief they held about their skills, their competence, their experience and their flaws. On the other side of the wall is everything they don't know about everything. The wall itself is doubt, frustration, anger, incompetence, failure, fear, loss... I could go on. The important point is, the wall feels more like an insurmountable mountain, a Mount Everest of lost causes. 

Despite the Venus-Uranus bingle, many of us feel we're facing an insurmountable Mt. Everest of lost causes today. This is the feeling we can assume when a major planet like Uranus is lingering at the end of the sign Pisces.

Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac, the Omega Point of the mandela. In the last degrees of Pisces we can get the feeling of things falling apart, the center can no longer hold. Something must die, must shift, must be cast out before we can start over again. With Uranus there, we can feel a tremendous urge to change. But Uranus energy is not consistent; what it wants one moment may not be what it wants the next. If we're not aware of it's push-pull tendencies and can't get perspective on the dynamic and the larger purpose of Uranus energy, it can feel like a visit to the grocery store with toddler hopped up on a bowl full of Fruit Loops. I want that! No, that! No, no, no! No say that!!!

Exhausting.

But if you can't take yourself home and solve the problem with a teddy bear and a nap, what do you do?

Reading a couple of weeks ago about Father Mychal Judge, I found the quotation above. I kept it; I don't know why. Perhaps for today. Who knows? Father Mychal was the first victim retrieved from the south tower collapse on 9/11, and according to the many stories I've read about him, he was an extraordinary ordinary man by any measurement. But I'll let you judge for yourself.

The quotation, however you think of its subject, suits a Scorpio Moon day like today. Father Mychal taught those who knew him there's a confidence that comes from knowing you have nothing left to lose. We usually learn this lesson from action heroes who, in a desperate leap of self-preservation and/or sacrifice, leap off a tall building or bust through a window and save the damsel in distress. Most of us gave up emulating action heroes long ago, though. And our heroism has long been replaced by doubt and fear. But Father Mychal's legacy suggests an alternative. Lingering here at the end of everything, we can surely find some strength in our doubts and fears.

Scorpio Moon doesn't scale mountains. Scorpio isn't an 'up and over' impulse, it's a 'down and under' strength. Scorpio Moon dives into the hidden stream that lies beneath the mountain of our frustration, and swims the depths of our unconscious fears to emerge on the other side of what we don't know. Scorpio gives us the will to explore what lies beneath the surface of everything.

Scorpio Moon will meet the Pisces Mercury, Sun, Venus and Uranus today and tomorrow --and share thoughts with Pluto in Capricorn, too. It's a co-mingling of emotional waters, running beneath the mountain that is this great shift in eras (Pluto in Capricorn). Some things are absolutely falling apart. What do you need to know about that? What don't you know yet? Where have you come to end of your confidence, creativity, assurance, skill, faith? What is your wall today?

Down and under...

Painting: G. Okoemova

Sculpture: "Hombre en llamas" Jason DeCaires Taylor, underwater sculpture

if you're curious about that "snowmageddon" in our nation's capitol...

Snow was not the deluge I had in mind. But oh, my lord...

Deucalion's flood story (see yesterday's post) is often a marker for climactic events, and it shouldn't be ruled out in an extraordinary event like this one. The stationing of smaller space objects typically bring them into focus for a few days.

This weekend Duecalion stationed at 9+ degrees Scorpio. This squares the current retrograde Mars. Now for the picture.

Here's the chart for the District of Columbia, (aka Washington D.C.). (click on it to expand the image)

Note the little right-side up horseshoe on the left side of the chart below the 9 o'clock position on the circle. This is the glyph (or symbol) for the North Node. Note that is at 6+ degrees Scorpio. Deucalion is stationing retrograde at 9+ degrees Scorpio. You can't see a symbol for Deucalion in the outer ring (my software doesn't provide one), so please imagine it there. It's there.

So Deucalion is stationing retrograde within three degrees of D.C.'s North Node. The North Node is about the future, remember? The growth point. Three degrees is a little bit wide for a small object conjunction, but as Deucalion is now moving backward toward the North Node, it's heading in an applying direction and thus, more influential. We'll forgive the three degree spread.

Deucalion and the North Node also sharing space (by transit) in the first house. The first house, among other things, gives us a picture of a person, place or thing's appearance. Washington does seems to have changed its look in the past 48 hours.

Deucalion's stationing is within one degree of an exact square to D.C.'s Uranus at 8+ degrees Leo. Uranus describes unexpected events and personal individuality. Here Uranus functions in the area of public affairs --the Capricorn (government) ruled 10th house. So business as usual is unexpectedly interrupted with this snow flood. (Uranus in Leo tells us a lot about this independent kingdom. Will it ever be assimilated into the state system? I don't think so. Too much pride (Leo) of independence (Uranus) for this little fiefdom. It's public persona depends on this.)

And finally, retrograde Mars in Leo, currently at 6+ degrees, is in an exact square to D.C.'s North Node. Throw in this lil' deluge and you've got some gear-grinding this weekend: plans stalled out, plans re-arranged or ditched. The normal disruptions of a big storm -- power outages, people out of pocket, and doubtful resources. Is there enough canned soup in the pantry? And will we have to eat it cold?

Ah, lord. What a thought. Somebody's senator stuck powerless for a day --literally-- in their D.C. condo, eating cold soup from a can. It'd be like micro-micro Haiti. Very micro.

But this is Washington D.C., not Abiline, Texas. Washington, the symbolic capitol of the free world. Washington, the metonymical by-word of democracy and Western power. Even the little stuff means big stuff in this town. What happens in Washington does NOT stay in Washington.

If I was writing a pulp novel about this, it'd be about a secret group of anarchists (Scorpio square Uranus) and the plans they proposed, if implemented, would change the course of our nation (North Node). But the storm sweeps in as the unexpected antagonist.

If I was a preacher, I'd preach about the need for all our nation's sins washed away white as snow. I'd call for a day of rest and reflection. That perhaps the Lord had sent us this miracle to call our hearts back to the work at hand, reminding us that as much as we try, we are not masters of the universe. (Again, a North Node. What's the spiritual future of our nation?)

And if I was a kid (or a kid at heart) I'd be digging out my snow gloves. (My immediate future's looking pretty white! No school! No train service!)

For all of us who don't have 28 inches of snow to dig out from, it's is a pretty good story, huh? But if I trust the symbolism of astrology, I really wonder how much fiction I just imagined. I bet the reality is a lot more interesting.

void, of course and then into the deep

The Libra Moon finished it's sweet sweep alongside the Venus/Chiron/Neptune confab and today is on it's way to Scorpio.

But until then it's a light day with no aspects to the Moon. No aspects = no connections = Void of course.

Void of course (VOC) should become part of your astro vocabulary. It's a space in time, usually a few hours, when we cruise with no Moon-astrological conversations on tap. (I just mistyped "on tao" --which makes sense, too.) Anywhoo. The practical application for "void of course" is "out of pocket". Folks don't respond to your emails or phone calls. You drift. Ideas just don't come to mind and you feel a little aimless. Decisions made during void of course hours are often forgotten.

You probably can't defer your workday obligations during every VOC; however, you can modify your expectations about an impending decision or contact. Just chill. They'll get back when the Moon starts contacting folks again, too.

Which will be about the end of the workday today (in North America). This evening the Moon heads into Scorpio and makes a trine to Jupiter in Pisces. It's a lovely, easy aspect that brings emotional depth to the day.

Keep it real, though. Scorpio loves a conspiracy and Pisces can be a gullible as all get-out. So unless you're working in a creative/artistic capacity tonight, keep it real. Check your facts. Know where the boundary lies between fantasy and fact.

backstage with mars in leo, part 2: libra, scorpio, saggitarius, capricorn, aquarius, and pisces

Note: Please read the previous entry about this transit, posted here. Lots of good stuff there.

(As always, read your Sun and Rising signs to get a better picture of the transit for you. You can discover your rising sign at this site: astrodienst.com, or if you already know (or want to look up) the latitude and longitude of your birth place, use tracy's excellent serennu site.)

And now, backstage--

Libra: If you worked in theater, you'd be happiest working in a repertory company or perhaps identifying as a loyal IATSE union member. Contributing to the greater good is your raison d'etre. But lately your contributions have been less about about "us" than "me" --and that's been a little jarring. Aren't we all a merry band of troubadours, bringing the people visions of a better tomorrow? So why won't anyone recognize your unique heart for the venture? Maybe there's a reason for that. "Tall poppies" is the Aussie term for what you've been sighted as: the flower that stands above the rest is the first one to feel the scythe. Standing up for something or standing out is likely to make you a marked man (or woman). And yet you cannot let the status quo be. Spend the next two months reformulating your new path away from the group norm. Maybe you need to find another troupe, a different union. Until you find the outlet, stay far away from fights, Poppy. The focus is on your own evolution, not a reformation of the department. Others may resent your ideas and go looking for their lawnmowers.

Scorpio: Of course you deserved that starring role. Of course you have more talent in your pinkie finger than most have in their whole nuclear family --grandparents included. Not that you need to advertise this truth; most people sense this without knowing why. It's part of your appeal. And lately you've been really showing your stuff --or have been making plans to go public with that stuff. The trouble is, you've got all this trouble on your home front holding you back from your big close-up. Something needs a big adjustment there. How can you move forward with this new public face and still answer to the ensemble? How can you be the star and still have a home to go home to? Playing understudy is not your style. And yet, that's the role you may have to take for the time being. If you don't self-destruct with frustration and bitterness that it's not you in the follow-spot, you can find a new outlet that better suits your conflicting (and legitimate) needs. Use this time to redefine your notions of stardom.

Sagittarius: Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue. And that's the trouble. You know the song all about blue skies and rainbows and it's still just a song, a siren call that beckons you on to the next town, the next show, with the hope that you'll experience the perfect performance. What you don't know is how to turn all that blue sky into a practical money-making venture. You were making some progress on that score this fall and connecting with folks who were showing you the money. But the money (and your connections) are still far away, and for the moment they're about as ephemeral as a rainbow after a thunderstorm. Keep singing, Sag --the musical score isn't done yet. Keep jotting those notes and replaying your fondest refrains. The work right now isn't out there, it's right in your neighborhood, right beside your elbow. In fact, elbow grease is your best friend now. Stay cool with the folks far away, whether there's money or love involved. Channel Johnny Mercer --the artist and the businessman-- and acc-cen-tu-ate the positive (easy enough) while you're building your new empire.

Capricorn: Oh, dear lord, you've landed the role of a lifetime! It has guts, it has grit, it's challenging and tender all at once. And you know it, deep in your gut you know this is the shot at your dreams. The dilemma is it's almost too rich, this role. You've wanted this for years but you've been such a duty-bound trooper in the background. Now you can finally to show the world what you learned back there, but this...this is almost too much. It's a role that calls for the ultimate of authenticity, the calling forth of all your darkest demons and dearest desires: you must orgasm onstage. Yes, you've got to surrender to desire --not in your head where that's a daily drama you may hide from even yourself. No, this role demands you pull it all to the surface. Lusty lions roar. Inhibition is your enemy. Until the last couple of years you've been too comfortable watching others interpret life for you. Not anymore. Now you are the interpreter, the conduit of love and passion. The key to your character work these next two months is this: get honest about what you honestly want from intimacy and what you'll do to get it. Don't cheat and fake the orgasm. Giving is the key, and now's the time to give the real deal. Authenticity --nothing less.

Aquarius: You're the improv veteran who's been cast in a long-term contract as the BFF or the lover these days. It's a great deal, this new partnership, and in this role you've been exploring new ideas about friendship and love. It's so cool, this expansion. And you've been looking for a new creative partnership who likes the talents you've got to offer. What you've got going on with your plans is so innovative! But if you're honest with yourself, it's been all a little cerebral. You're an excellent interpreter, and your notes during rehearsal are second to none. But the director keeps telling you you're missing feeling. You don't get this. Or do you? Reconsider what's at stake here: no one's challenging your unique vision of this relationship; what they need to see more of is your willingness to let others shine. Improv is a tough game and the guy who gets the biggest laughs, wins. Now you've got to work out a way for your partner to get the laugh. With an eight month contract that will put you in a new league, professionally and personally, you've got to make this one work. Feeling? Empathy? You'll find it inside if you if you study your beliefs about love and don't expect the other guy to serve up the tenderness every time.

Pisces: What role wouldn't you play? What job wouldn't you take? Chief cook and bottle-washer, if it needed to be done, you offered yourself for the job. Anything for your art. Anything for the one you love. What's missing in this picture? You. The problem is, you don't want to the girl-friday anymore and you're not going to accept whatever is handed your way. Recent battles may have set something straight in your heart, leaving you to finally focus on the true work that calls you. That new you is a picture of the Burning Man offering to the creative inner fire, not the self-immolation of mourning Buddists. Bid farewell to martyrdom. This past year got you in touch with a piece of your self-worth, which allowed you to develop a little more healthy selfishness. Now what're you gonna do with that new self? Work it, and then rework it. If your day job is less than creatively or artistically satisfying, don't hassle yourself or your co-workers. Give it time. You are creating a new world for them, too. It's a world that going to get bigger and bigger for you very soon.

hey fixed signs: you shifting gears?

Gear shifts all around --internal, external. Helped a friend paint her new shop yesterday. She's a Taurus --focused, fixed and slow to change. This adventure is huge for her. But you should see the smile on her face. She knows it's big; she knows it's good. The place is amazing. Not what she went looking for but more than she imagined.

The big T-square over the weekend should be pushing all our fixed sign friends (Aquarius, Scorpio, Leo and Taurus) into new territory. Most likely this has something to do with authentic creative/heart's center expression. This particular Taurus friend is no artist, for example, but her new shop space will finally give her an authentic expression for her business, which right now is her heart's center. No more putting up with bad wiring, old pipes, bathrooms that can't meet code, and windowless work spaces. The old place put a bad face on my friend's true abilities. First impressions do count and she was losing potential customers working from a building that was decidedly old school --in the worst way.

By the way, ask around and see if any Taurus (or Taurus rising) friends are finally getting to some long deferred home improvement or self-improvement tasks. You might find yourself competing with the sound of a contractor voice or cordless drill running in the background. I know two in the middle of big projects that are changing, one way or another, their homes/comfort zone of their lives. No more putting up with substandard conditions. No more living with something/someone who doesn't want to play nice.

But all fixed signs (wherever they are functioning in your life) are getting their gears shifted. I've had some pointed pushing on my Aquarius Venus thanks to some friends. Two phone calls and an email, and click! I'm moving into new territory. Good stuff. Mostly serious perceptual shifts, but these will lead to outer changes. Like my friend's new shop space, I've got a lot of work to invest in these new shifts. But unlike her project, the results of my plans won't be immediately apparent; however the vision is there now. It's a big perceptual shift, a big gear shift.

Where are your gears shifting?

make your new moon a moxie moon

Exhausted from weeks of illness, so no big new moon report here. But it's a good Scorpio laden new moon, a moxie kind of moon for all of us. The astrology parlance for a Scorpio new moon is "regenerative". Up from the dust, the phoenix from the ashes and all.

Me, I say it's a Moxie Moon. Put a little fizz back into your life. Put some hair on yer chest. The Moxie Man is pointing his finger at YOU. Yes, you.

You've grokked a thing or two this past week and now it's time to swallow the medicine. Not necessarily time to do something about it, but a good time to seep in the new point of view.

I've been observing a heavier conversations about parents and parenting these past few days, too. Maybe you've noted shifts in your thinking about them, too. I'd throw in any authority figure or unbalanced/power-heavy relationship just to make the moment complete. They're fair game for all this shifting p.o.v.

Think MOXIE. No need to be victim; no need to whine. Saturn/Pluto certainly won't reward whining or whinging of any sort. Just take your meds and grok your new insights. Be kind to yourself. Like recovering from a bad cold, adjustments do take time.

Later in the week we'll have three days or so of Capricorn moon, so hold the iphone, the Blackberry and the GTD list until then. You can wait --I promise.

Photos: Moxie Soda, one of America's first mass-marketed sodas.

veterans' day, usa

Veteran's Day this year is particularly emotional, even for those of us who don't have a loved one in the service. Yesterday as I drove my daughter to a doctor's appointment, I listened to the memorial service for the men and women killed at Fort Hood. On the astrological anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, I found myself, again, heavy-hearted over the madness of war. It's a form of melancholy I'm susceptible to, and one that responds well to rituals like memorial services and tunes played on a trumpet in a minor key.

Do I have any illusions that humans will ever abandon violence? No. No illusions there. We could sit through a hundred million memorial services and I still don't think we'd ever abandon that place in each of us that lusts to harm. I'm the sort of person that believes it's in each of us, waiting for the right moment to erupt. This belief doesn't make me paranoid; on the contrary, acknowledging my uglier self is an act of mental health --sort of like keeping one's friends close, but one's enemies closer. Yes, we can be our own worst enemies.

Which brings up a lot of questions about the relationship of Islam to modern psychiatry: how do each reconcile the shadow self to being a "good" person? Are there contradictions in definition, approach, outcomes? I'm very curious because the astrology of the shooting points to a sort of primal scream. Eric pointed this out to me in the Fort Hood shooting discussion thread at Planet Waves: Mars is trine both Pholus AND Hylonome. And Hylonome is a centaur planet and a marker for self-inflicted wounds, and self-imposed grief. Think of the custom of funeral keening and you get an image of Hylonome at work.

This week the Sun and Mercury passes through the last degrees of Scorpio and moves on to touch Pisces in Uranus and the South Node in Cancer in a grand water trine. We experience a lacuna of emotion-laden waters --self-referential, self-absorbed, self-contained. I say "lacuna" because grand trines so easily speak to one another, that this part of us tends to skip over useful information offered elsewhere in our experience. Here, we move from a deeply personal (Sun and Mercury in Scorpio) feeling to an universally compassionate (Uranus in Pisces) feeling, and then on to the backwaters of family history, our homeland, and most profoundly, our past patterns developed from feelings of safety and belonging (South Node in Cancer). 

Or you could be cagey and secretive (Scorpio Sun/Mercury) about possibly paranoid and definitely unpredictable/unlikely/surprising emotions you can't define (Pisces/Uranus), but you're pretty sure they've got something to do with your mom/childhood (South Node in Cancer). And you stew in this (grand water trine).

There's more than one way to float this river.

For Americans who observe Veteran's Day this pattern points to our own feelings of safety as a nation; we were "born" under the sign of Cancer, and for the next 18 months as the South Node passes through the sign of Cancer Americans will think a lot about our past patterns of how we nurtured and protected our own. Appropriately, this seems to have crystalized around two issues --our collective health (the health care legislation) and now, our combat soldiers sent out, ostensibly, to protect our country. (Many of whom do not support this current war but feel pressured to keep silent.)

Fortunately the Saturn-Pluto square is FORCING us to integrate these feelings --somehow, some way-- into a new sense of identity. This is the beginning of a long growth cycle for all of us. Some folks are really working hard at this; others, not so much. Have a care for the folks who resist these changes.  There's something here they don't want to acknowledge, which is the ugly side of themselves. And what we don't like about ourselves, we ascribe to others: "I'm not the problem, you are!" 

You know, it's how wars start.

Peace to all who've lost a loved one to war.

"Snow Angel" by Over the Rhine

(Words and Music: Detweiler)

Once upon a winter
It seems so long ago
My one and only love and I
Fell down upon the snow

And as the dusk was falling
From our gray and goose down sky
We heard the old cathedral bells
Ring out our lullaby

Snow angel, snow angel
Someday I’m gonna fly
This cold and broken heart of mine
Will one day wave goodbye
Goodbye to this cruel wicked world
And all the tears I’ve cried
Snow angel, snow angel
I’ll meet you in the sky

The rumors of a distant war
Called my true love’s name
He packed his leather suitcase
And spoke no word of blame
We walked awhile together
I tried to hide my fear
He told me not to be afraid
And whispered in my ear

Snow angel, snow angel
Someday I’m gonna fly
This cold and broken heart of mine
Will one day wave goodbye
Goodbye to this cruel wicked world
And all the tears I’ve cried
Snow angel, snow angel
I’ll meet you in the sky

They brought my love home from the war
In a cart pulled by white mules
The Christmas bells rang out that day
Oblivious as fools

And as the snow began to fall
I kissed his frozen face
They told me in his woolen coat
His last few words were placed

Snow angel, snow angel
Someday I’m gonna fly
This cold and broken heart of mine
Will one day wave goodbye
Goodbye to this cruel wicked world
And all the tears I’ve cried
Snow angel, snow angel
I’ll meet you in the sky

november 9th: venus in scorpio

 Wherever you have Scorpio in your chart, welcome Venus. Your attractions and emotions there will be more subtle, curious, and emotionally self-protective.

Venus in Scorpio doesn't give itself up easily. There's always a shaded quality to our attractions. Venus in Scorpio makes me think of dark mahogany confessionals and shared whispers of secrets we think are both shameful and sacred. We imagine we are ashamed, but we are not. The secrets are too much a part of us. What would we do? Amputate our hearts?

The symbolism attached to Venus aspects this week tells us we must make some place in our world for these secrets: A cauterized heart is too much to bear.

Artist: John Singer Sargent, Madame X

the fort hood shooting

Eric got this up at Planet Waves right away. The analysis is interesting. Check it out.

(click the image if you want a larger picture of the chart)

In addition to the comments already made, I find the air trines from Moon in Gemini/Pallas in Libra and then again to the Jupiter/Neptune/Chiron Aquarius Stellium back at the Moon interesting. They are not technically a grand air trine formation, but close. There's a lot of unquestioned mental synergy happening here. At one level it seems to paint a picture of a premeditated act (Pallas/Moon). It also seems to suggest someone attempting to regulate a perception of injustice (Chiron/Pallas in Libra).

The most important point, though, is Saturn at 0+ degrees Libra --again, an Aries Point event. As I wrote before, the Aries Point reminds us that all politics are local. If the news reports are correct, the shooter was about to be deployed overseas from an Army base that's seen more than it's fair share of soldiers returning (or not) from Iraq and Afghanistan. Maybe this was his statement about America's involvement in these wars. Who knows right now. What I can say for sure is this: Afghanistan will not be the war "over there" anymore; the war has come home and the politics will surely get local.

Note Pholus (the green square with the flag on top in the 11 o'clock position of the chart): this is the "little event, big effect" centaur planetoid. It's in the spot where one would find a public event (10th House) in the sign of international affairs (Saggitarius), and it's trine Mars in Leo in the everyday affairs/military/environment house (6th House). So this will surely get big; it's got the energy to roar. Not that you'd need astrology to point that out...

november 4: neptune swims forward

Neptune turns direct November fourth and will continue pressing on through the sign Aquarius until May 31st, when it turns retrograde again. Tomorrow also features a very companionable trine from Neptune to Venus in Libra --useful for soothing old grudges and making nice-nice between old friends, but NOT good for suddenly springing for everyone's dinner because you've paid off the credit card and you're feeling so breezily freeeee and generous.

Don't do it.

Right now is a great time for dreaming, though. And for scribbling every last inspiration that crosses your little mind. Aquarian Neptune has an avant-garde twist to it --a little futuristic if you want it to be. So be sure to ink in some future schemes and dreams. Relationship innovations, too. If you could think outside your current box with your lover, husband, collaborator, fellow traveler, friend...whomever...Neptune in Aquarius can help. Not that Neptune moments actually amount to action --you would need a little Mars or Saturn on your side for that. But you could dream.

The thing is, with Neptune in retrograde since last summer, we've been dreaming plenty. But it's been very much an interior journey, an interior plotting and scheming. And idea trapped in a bubble. Or a head-trip (a la Balloon Boy). However, with Neptune now stationing direct, we're moving toward some sort of actualization or emergence/birth of that dream.

But what if it's just fantasy? Just a bunch of hoke'um I've piled up in my head, these dreams?

Good question. See, you don't have to worry about that. In a couple of weeks time Saturn and Pluto will make clear what you need to separate fact from fantasy. Already you've had a little jolt last week when Chiron turned direct in Aquarius. Most likely it showed up like a contract rider, or an addendum on your personal plans. Perhaps you felt a loss. A little, "Yes, but you see, there's a complication..." So already you've survived one reality check.

Whatever doesn't survive the mid-November Reality Check II, would not have survived the next 15 years, anyway. What does survive will probably require a lot of work, but the dream that survives this next season is more likely much more than a dream.

Photo: Alex Worsley