The Last Day

I was leaving at 1:30 p.m.  What to do until then?  Well, first off L told me all about the Warrior Cats books (which she'd inhaled the first two days I was there), and all the various cat clans and dynamics.  That was pretty cool - it seems like a richly imagined world.  ThunderClan are the good guys, ShadowClan are the bad guys, and then the other two clans are aligned as well in a delicate balance of power.  Cats who are under the care of the Twolegs are derided as Kittypets.  (When L was describing ShadowClan's rejection of a newborn kitten who was born a Kittypet but brought over to be raised free with the Warrior Cats, it reminded me of Voldemort's treatment of Mudbloods.)

When other members of the household were up and about, we went out to breakfast at the Over Easy (they have a cute logo on their sign that incorporates a rising sun / fried egg).  I got my usual order-out breakfast, scrambled egg on an english muffin ... with a side of bacon.  Yum!

R went rollerblading while the guys played tennis and I hung out with the girls.  C wanted me to read some books from the Magic Tree House series, so I obliged.  We read #8 and 9, which feature a brother and sister, Jack and Annie, who travel through space and time on quests at the request of Morgan Lefay (who turns out to be a lot nicer than expected).  One of the funny things in these books is that Jack is always getting exasperated with Annie (who typically wants to barge in without a plan - much like Dr. Who), and he repeatedly expresses his exasperation with her by saying "Oh, brother!"  Once I pointed this out to the girls, they thought it was hilarious.  So then I started sometimes substituting in "Oh, sister!" instead - and that was really well received. If only all audiences were as easily entertained!

When R came back, though, I started jonesing for a skating jaunt of my own. I made it a quick trip to the graveyard and back.

The day was a bit overcast, but there were some surprisingly good bird-glimpsing opportunities en route.

On a dead tree branch

On top of mangroves

The graveyard

Of course I ended up going into the ocean one more time just when I needed to get things dried and packed, but it was all very fun.  C is a mermaid with great powers to control the waves, and to talk to birds and animals, and she told me all about it.  (In case you're curious about the hierarchy, C is the Queen Mermaid, and there are just 10 Princesses.  I am not eligible to be a mermaid, because - alas - I did not start early enough.)  

The girls are both amazing in the water. I kept looking for gills, but I couldn't see them.

The sorrow of parting was diminished somewhat because I had company to the airport (thanks B!) and even a little bit beyond since D had to change planes at JFK.  As planned, I got back in time for the Monday night lecture and Tuesday morning back in the office.  Sigh.