WWW - Wool edition

In honor of the tremendous milestone achieved last night, this week's Weekly Wednesday Wrap-up is being co-opted by a Grown Up Skweffle:

Amazing, isn't it?

No, I am not telling you the date I cast on. So there.

Oh, all right, then, if you insist (Ravelry link).

In which trek reviews Warrior Cats

Neatnik and I have both been devouring Erin Hunter's Warrior Cats books this summer. There are currently three completed series and one in progress. Additionally, the author has written three super editions and four field guides to accompany and enrich the series volumes.

Into the Wild,Midnight,Bluestar's Prophecy

The Warriors books are written at a sixth grade reading level with the series books having about 300 pages each. Super edition volumes weigh in at a hefty 500+ pages each. Neatnik, 7 years old and entering third grade in the fall, has had no difficulties with the vocabulary nor the content. I will admit that over the course of the 15 books she has finished so far, I can remember her asking for the definition of two or three new words.

Distilled down to their bare bones, the Warriors books describe the lives of four bands of feral cats and their warrior ancestors who play the role of spiritual guardians.

The social structure of the Clans appears to be modeled on the tribal hierarchy of the Native American Indians. Cats' roles within their respective clans are designated mostly by age and destiny.

Newborn cats are known as kits until they reach six moon of age at which time they become apprentices. A Clan cat's apprenticeship lasts until they are deemed worthy of promotion to warrior status. This period of training seems to coincide with growth to full adult stature though an apprentice may be promoted to warrior sooner, say following an heroic act. In the case of injury or illness, an apprentice may have to wait a bit longer to attain full warrior status.

Clans are lead by the Clan leader who is supported and assisted by the Clan's deputy, the heir to power, and the Clan's medicine cat. Elders, those cats too old or too battle scarred to hunt and patrol any longer, are treated as a valuable resource and honored for their past achievements by being cared for by the Clan in general with the apprentices usually caring for their day-to-day needs.

Medicine cats treat the elder's ailments with berries and herbs. Medicine cats also assist when she-cats, known as queens, are delivering their kits, treat infectious diseases and battle wounds, and serve as a speaker for messages from StarClan.

Clan cats generally have no use, but a lot of contempt, for kittypets. Kittypet is the Clan cat term for what we would call house cats. Kittypets are looked down upon by Clan cats because they are dependent upon Twolegs for both food and shelter and do not follow the warrior code.

Against this climate, Into the Wildbegins with a young kittypet named Rusty. Rusty is an adventurous kitten who has intense dreams of hunting in the forest beyond his fenced yard. Bluestar, grey-blue she-cat who is leader of ThunderClan, sees something important in this kittypet and invites him to join her clan. He is apprenticed to Lionheart and given the name Firepaw, so named for his flaming orange pelt. After Lionheart's death, Bluestar herself becomes Firepaw's mentor.

Warriors follows Firepaw's life within ThunderClan, his apprenticeship, his time as a Clan warrior, his deputyship, and eventually, his succession of Bluestar as Clan leader. Despite his loyalty to ThunderClan, there are those cats who refuse to see him as anything more than a soft kittypet, causing Firepaw to have to work twice as hard just to be seen as good as his forest born Clanmates. The reader follows along as Firepaw learns the warrior code, how to hunt, and how to protect himself and his Clanmates from the dangers in the forest.

The Warriors books deliver a subtle message about prejudice and rising above it. They are also great examples of well-done anthropomorphization; neither sappy nor laid on as a veneer. It was so good, in fact, that I found myself tearing up when certain cats were called to walk with StarClan. Highly recommended!

Excuse me, I have to go find out what happens in Firestar's Quest
right now.

WWW - Again with the Thursday

Let's hear it for the Weekly Wednesday Wrap-up, once again brought to you on Thursday morning. gah...

• I started drafting this post over the weekend.



• No, I really, truly, honestly did but then I was a bit under the weather and things got a mite out of paw hand.



• Neatnik and I have been reading the Warrior Cats series by Erin Hunter.



• How apropros the author's last name is hunter.



• Neatnik and I have each read all six books in both of the first two series (Warriors and Warriors: The New Prophecy).



• Book one of the third series, Warriors: Power of Three, is sitting on the TBR pile stacked on the stereo speaker in the living room.



• Neatnik has also finished one of the field guides and two of the super editions. I've finished the first super edition and just started the second.



• Now, if I could just get her not to slip up with tantalizing spoilers before I finish the book...



• Note to self: might want to think about writing up a series review. That is all.



• Neatnik has completed eight summer reading programs so far this year. She earned one book each from Borders and Barnes and Noble, ten bucks from TD Bank, a pair of tickets for a minor league baseball game, a t-shirt from H-E Buddy, some goodies from the local library, free admission to a Six Flags theme park, and some Happy Meals from McDonald's.



• The child reads nearly as fast as I do.



• Why, yes, we are very proud of her.



• There has been other entertainment besides all of the reading going on here. Number Guy and I went to the movies Saturday morning. Now, before everyone gets to thinking that this is not a good time for a date with the significant other, let us analyze the situation.



• Getting a babysitter on a Saturday morning can be easier than securing sitting on a Friday or Saturday night. Babysitters like to go out to have fun, too.



• We were able to walk Neatnik to the designated sitter's house and then continue on to the theater. Exercise combined with entertainment: bonus!



• The local movie theater has a daily sliding scale on ticket prices. After 4pm, adult tickets run you $11.00. Between noon and four, they cost $9.00 each. Before noon, however, you can score your seat for just six bucks, just over half of a night ticket. Very economical. Thrifty, even.



• Have to tick the thrifty tag now...



• We saw The Sorcerer's Apprentice starring Nicholas Cage.



• I don't really care if the movie pundits are labeling it a "dud". We liked it.



• Badass wizards rock.



• One question, though: why can't the good guy wizards afford to buy a decent comb?



• We were treated to several previews for upcoming movies.



• What is up with the whole, "Now in 3D" trend? There must be other people who get motion sick and can't watch computer-generated virtual reality. It can't just be me.



• Last night, a nearby town hosted fireworks on the beach. After dinner, we drove on down to the boardwalk to catch them. They weren't spectacular but they were still fireworks and all it cost us was some gas and a bit of nerve-wracking tension.



• As we were walking to the car, we saw heat lightning in the distance. That was cool. The sky lit up in pale pinks and blues several times. Twice I saw brilliant flashes of bright teal. Never seen that before!



• God's own light show.



• The tension started when halfway home the wind kicked up and the heavens opened in an attempt to bring the ocean just a little farther inland. I literally couldn't see out the front window. Number Guy asked me if the windshield wipers could go any faster.



• No, dear, they cannot...



• By the time we reached our driveway, the rain had stopped, though serious volumes of water continued to flood the street's gutters.

What is the old quote? May you live in exciting times?

WWW - Dramatic edition

A second Wednesday in a row with a Weekly Wednesday Wrap-up actually on a Wednesday - that in and of itself is so loaded with dramatic emphasis that I felt I should just go with it.

• Way back in April, I was at a gift auction at a local church. I had two tickets remaining and noticed that the bucket for the week of summer camp held only two tickets. It was nearly time for the drawings to begin, so into the bucket my last two tickets went.



• Neatnik is in drama camp this week. They are working on the witches scene from the Scottish play.



• Last night, Number Guy and I helped her with her lines. Neatnik is witch #3 so I was enlisted to play witch #1 and Number Guy was conscripted to play witch #2.



• I offered him the sobriquet of warlock #2 or wizard #2 or even medicine man #2, but he was just fine with being witch #2.



• It's a dad thing.



• And very Shakespearean, as well.



• We all got into the drama of the lines and it really did sound pretty good.



• I had planned to ride my bicycle while Neatnik was in camp all this week. On Monday, I rode 20 miles. I pedaled my way up and down a railbank which has been paved by the county park system. Lovely shaded areas, sunny salt marshes, and the occasional cool bird flying by. Very dramatic.



• Yesterday, I did not bike. I walked in the mall for a few miles instead.



• No, it wasn't due to saddle sores.



• It was raining heavily.



• Buckets.



• Cats and dogs.



• I didn't want to bike through poodles puddles.



• And there was lightning. Lots of lightning.



• Several towns lost power briefly and flooding was definitely present in low-lying areas.



• Conditions were so bad dramatic that I began to fear that I would not be able to get back to the school in time to pick up the Neatnik.



• Happily, I was able to detour around the problems, retrieve Neatnik, and head out for home.



• Unhappily, we were nearly in a collision on the way back to chez trek.



• Nobody was hurt, fortunately.



• See, we were on a through street and the driver of a truck at a cross street was busy watching a pedestrian and never looked to their left to see the oncoming traffic.



• I swerved left, mashed the brake pedal, and skidded to a halt a hair's breadth from the truck's left front bumper.



• I did promise that this was the dramatic edition, didn't I?

That's plenty enough drama for this week. Tune in next week when we shall (hopefully) have a bit less of the drama.

WWW - Burning like a heatwave

Wow, this is simply amazing. Nearly unbelievable, really. A Weekly Wednesday Wrap-up actually posting on a Wednesday. Must be the heat.

• Did I say heat? I think I did. It is all that has been on anyone's mind lately.



• That and the lack of rain.



• The heat is starting to get to the nouns.



• Nouns like grass, people, pets, and even cars.



• We have been promised thunderstorms several times in the past three weeks or so but even though one could feel the air change due to the different high or low pressure fronts moving into the area we haven't had any precipitation.



• The last major storm which was predicted to dump water on us made a drastic turn to the southwest, causing local flooding and loss of power about an hour and a half away from chez trek.



• Yep, you guessed it: we got nuttin'.



• Combine one part dryness with one part heat and the grass begins to turn a bit yellow.



• Add in a second helping of heat and the grass turns brown and brittle, along with all of the clover and other assorted plant-life in the lawn which is supposed to be all verdant and green in color.



• It crackles when you walk on it, sending up little poofs of powdered leaf with each step.



• We don't water our lawn. The grass is well-established and always recovers from the summer's heat. Even if we wanted to water the parched, arid land which we call ours, we couldn't.



• Despite the snow storms which filled our reservoirs this past winter, the lack of recent rains and the high demand for hydration has put us under mandatory water restrictions.



• The last time I mowed the grass, I filled the wading pool so that Neatnik and Bobblehead could splash around whilst I cropped the lawn.



• There's another silver lining: since the grass isn't growing and therefore does not require trimming, I don't have a need to use the wading pool to occupy the children while I work.



• People are being affected by the weather. Everyone seems to be moving in slow motion due to the ongoing heatwave.



• Pool population has been up a bit.



• The pets of our acquaintance have been competing in the Who Can Take up the Greatest Number of Floor Tiles event.



• This event ought not to be confused with its sister event, Who Can Trip the Greatest Number of Humans.



• Totally different strategies are involved.



• WCTupGNoFT is all about area covered, whether you measure in metric or Imperial units. Larger beasties have the clear advantage here.



• WCTtGNoH definitely requires a different skill set. This one is all about placement, timing, and camouflage.



• Extra points awarded to the cat or dog who can set off a Rube Goldberg chain of events causing multiple humans to trip but only if it also engenders the spilling of a staining substance onto light-colored surfaces.



• Points deducted if flying food hits the feline or canine entrant.



• Did you notice that I included cars up there in the fourth bullet point? Yeah, cars.



• Number Guy got into his car yesterday morning, turned the key in the ignition and got nothing.



• He took the minivan and I arranged for the tow truck.



• Apparently the heat incinerated his car's battery sometime between late Sunday night and early Tuesday morning.



• This is how we replaced his battery about five years ago, as I recall...



• Did you notice that I said cars plural up there in the previous bullets? Yeah, the minivan has been affected by the soaring temperatures as well.



• My van is simply confused. Instead of reading air temperatures via its external thermometer, it is bleating out radio stations in the triple digit region of the FM dial... 102, 103, even 104 appeared.



• All of those readings happened yesterday when the forecast was for a high of 95°F. Today, the prediction is for 100°F.



• Can't wait to see what the minivan makes of that: there aren't any radio stations above 107...

I think it is safe to say that I am planning to take Neatnik to the pool today. Despite the air quality hazard warnings which have been flying for days on end. We need it and that is something over which I can exert some degree of control.

We also, very obviously, need rain but that I cannot control.

Next week, Neatnik is enrolled for a week of drama camp. It is a bit of a drive to get her there. Hopefully by next week, the (again) promised rainstorms will have deflated the temperatures and I can break out my single-passenger, two-wheeled, articulated, non-petroleum-powered vehicle and rack up some mileage near cool ocean breezes.

WWW - Now with more Thursday

Would you just look at that? Here I go, promising a weekly post on Wednesdays for the summer and I was late on the second post. As if that wasn't bad enough, here I am late again in week three. This week, however, I have a much better reason for being late for the Weekly Wednesday Wrap-up than I did last week...

• Had an appointment with the allergist yesterday to get my immunotherapy innoculations.



• This isn't unusual: I have a weekly standing appointment with Dr PreciousMetal. The appointments fall on Wednesday afternoons because that is the one day in which he has hours at the office close enough to chez trek that I can walk there.



• Since I am not supposed to engage in activities which elevate the heart rate after getting my shots and since the temperature was considerably cooler than the previous couple of mornings, I walked yesterday morning while Neatnik was at Vacation Bible School.



• Found a box in the parking lot of the grocery store where we stopped en route to VBS. Picked it up to drop into the trash can.



• It had a Box Top on it.



• Our current count for the summer is twelve.



• Thank you, litterbug.



• The plan was to visit the library right after playing pincushion then to zip home to collect some things for the pool, then to Neatnik's tae kwon do class, and then to drop her at the babysitter's while Number Guy and I went out for a little date night dinner.



• The operative word in that previous bullet is was.



• You see, the plan went just fine up to "visit the library right after playing pincushion". Wandering the library to round up reading material took a bit longer than expected so we came home and were getting ready to run a couple of errands before tae kwon do class when I noticed that, although the shots did not itch at all nor raise any welts nor have any redness in the local area, the regions under my arms were kind of itchy.



• If by kind of itchy one means that I was tempted to grab the brass bristled grill scrubbing brush and begin to assault the tender skin under my arms and down my rib cage.



• Being the retired pharmacist type that I am, I opted to pop an antihistamine tablet instead and to attempt to ride it out.



• Half an hour later, I called Dr PreciousMetal's office. The itching had not abated in the slightest. He needed to know if I was wheezing or short of breath of it there were hives. I couldn't feel any raised welts through my shirt so I went up to the bedroom mirror, removed my tank top and took a peek.



• :: insert bad word here ::



• You, being the clever, quick, and on the ball types of blog peeps that you are, know exactly what came next.



• Ten minutes later, I was being poked, prodded, and generally evaluated for how likely I was to expeditiously expire.



• As you can see, I did not expire. I did, however, receive a needle full of epinephrine to my right thigh and a couple dozen milligrams of prednisone and I got to enjoy Dr PreciousMetal's scintillating conversation and company for the following hour or so while I twitched and stuttered.



• We were too late to make Neatnik's tae kwon do class.



• I was too itchy, twitchy, and generally uncomfortable to go out to dinner.



• I made some nice salads and Number Guy picked up a pizza and we watched a movie and had a quiet evening at home.



• During all of the commotion, Neatnik read.



• She is up to 135 new books this year.



• Speaking of her reading, she earned a book from Borders, a book from Barnes and Noble, and ten dollars from TD Bank.



• I am still researching vacation options for later in the summer and in the process, I learned of a summer reading incentive with a double A minor league baseball team which will give a child two tickets to a game as a reward for reading just five books.



• No, I don't let her double-dip: no using the same book in more than one program.



• Not that this is a hardship for her in any sense of the word.

Well, there it is, our Wednesday in a nutshell. Sorry that I have no pictures but did you really want to see great swathes of red blotches on my fish-belly white torso anyhow?

I have to dress and get ready to bring Neatnik to VBS and to run a pile of errands while she is so occupied. Hope that your Wednesday er, Thursday is a great one.

And free from hives.

Unless, of course, you are a bee-keeper.