Aby is constructing Mark’s new MOUSCAR vehicle basically from scratch. With the Herd Thinners sponsor money (and other sponsors) they obtained a current model Camaro and are converting it into racing shape.
With most racing teams it would be a quick turnaround and Mark could be on the track already. However, Aby and her small staff of mechanics are progressing slowly as they labor over every tiny modification. Kell understands, and hasn’t put any pressure on them. They aim to be ready by late summer’s big Run For the Cheese event at the famed racing maze at Tala-Mozzerella.
The safety features are taking the biggest time, and Mark’s crash a few month ago terrified her. To avoid the risk of injury (or worse) she’s added non-standard driver protection that adds weight to the car. To counteract that negative effects that will have on the car’s performance she’s ingeniously altered its maneuverability within the maze. Each wheel can move independently, enabling it to turn 180 degrees while standing still.
Kell watched a Camouflage Pageant the other night, which Dad regarded with studied disinterest. It’s always fascinating to see why pageants attract more female viewers than males, and it’s probably because it provides us with an opportunity to engage in a favorite pastime: judging other females based on appearance. (And no, I didn’t watch, either.)
Coney is once again attending Predator Camp along with Lin Lee. They leave next week, and Coney is very excited. As she becomes a strong-willed five-year-old, her personality is fast emerging. She’s bright and confident…sometimes too confident. Lin is the same way, and they each reinforce that aspect of their personality. There’s a high likelihood of them getting into trouble as they have a Lucy/Ethel thing going on.
Go ahead and Google Lucy and Ethel. I’ll wait.
Back? Good, Meanwhile, cousin Wendell will be attending the Herbivore Camp across the lake from the little predators, very much against his will.
Happy Mother’s Day to all moms out there. Kell gets up early, and I called her at dawn before Fenton and I went to sleep for the day. Then I heard later that she went back to bed so Rudy and Coney could “surprise” her with breakfast. This year the main course was a particularly dense weasel, and Kell said it was delicious. Fenton called his mom as well.
Classes for the Spring semester are coming to an end here at Beige U. I’m still working at the lab as I pursue my Master’s in genetics, and Fenton is slowly working on his Bachelor’s in computer science. Due to his Hare-Link responsibilities he only takes three classes a semester, but he doesn’t mind. He has a job already, so there’s no rush.
A sleepy quiet summer looms after the students depart from this small college town. We’re getting used to its unique rhythms, which seems to suit our nature. We both feel we made a good choice settling here. Of course, Tree is the one most permanently rooted. (Pun) Like last summer, I’m sure we’ll see a lot of our bee neighbors across the street.
While Aby and her staff at the shop work to create a new ride for Mark Meadowvole, a team of MOUSCAR officials visited him. Even though he participated in just one race (and didn’t even get to finish it), he excited the fans with his deft maneuvering in the short time he was in the maze. The officials are now trying to capitalize on that.
There were discussions on exactly how to market him, as if he were a piece of meat. (That must have been uncomfortable for him, especially considering that Herd Thinners is his main sponsor.) MOUSCAR takes each driver and spins a caricature of his or her personality to their audience to built identification (and course, to sell merchandise).
With Mark they took a basic fact; namely, that he is dating Aby, and presented that as a sign of an insane danger-seeker…”Crazy Mark” Meadowvole. Nothing could be further from the truth. While possessing an iron will, he is genial and pleasant in person. He went along with it, though, since he hasn’t yet established himself on the Scamper Cup circuit.
Aby says the new car should be ready toward the end of summer, in time for the the last few races of the season.
Gran frequently comes over to the house to look after Coney on weekends, since Dad and Kell both have demanding careers and Elanor needs a break sometimes. This weekend for the first time, Gran’s visit coincided with one of Coney’s play dates with Lin Lee.
While that was going on, Lin met Gran for the first time, and right away she got on Gran’s bad side. Gran handled it well, taking the girls outside to play games that Lin had one experienced before; namely, games for little herbivores. She’d already taught them to Coney as a toddler who, in her innocence, hadn’t seen them as specific to any particular group at the time.
That’s not the case now. There probably won’t be any immediate consequences, but we’ll have to see how things play out. As it stands both girls will be going to Predator Camp for the summer, while Coney’s cousin Wendell will be across the lake at the Herbivore Camp.
The pollen around here, always heavy in April, is approaching mythic proportions. The mild March weather was jet fuel to the local flora’s reproductive systems, and the output has been stupendous. A pollen count of over 9,000 particles per cubic meter was recorded back home.
Tree is a prime offender, and she’s apologetic. Being sentient she’s one of the only individuals of her species that realizes what she’s doing to the rest of us, but she’s really powerless to stop it. The La Nina weather pattern has put her natural behaviors into overdrive, and she can’t stop them any more than I could stop my quills from growing.
Due to eating the vegetation all year, Dad isn’t sensitive to breathing it in. Less lucky is Kell, who is miserable. With her demanding job she can’t afford to take time off, so she loads up on antihistamines.
The prey species initially saw the pollen as a boon, since they thought the clouds of it would hide them from predators. Then their sneezing started giving them away.
WAIT, WAIT…DON’T KILL ME!
As I write this, Danielle is doing the family’s taxes. The finances got a lot more complicated, as 2011 was the first full year with Kell making CEO money. Danielle is up to the task, though, and she’ll be handsomely compensated.
The other big news was Kell appearing on the NPR (National Predator Radio) quiz show “Wait, Wait…Don’t Kill Me!” as their celebrity guest. We listen to it every week. It’s hosted by Peter Seagull with the announcer Carl Kestrel.
Usually the show is done from Chicago, but sometimes they go on the road and this week they were here at the CornCob Energy Center. Kell was invited on to promote the new Herd Thinners line of insect meals; now starting its second year of operation. In return for the free publicity she had to answer three questions in the “Not My Prey” segment…about rabbit meat.
She kept her composure and got two correct (while intentionally getting the third wrong in order to make predators think rabbits tasted like tofu). That was enough to win the prize for the home listener: Carl Kestrel’s mating call on their voice mail.
All in all it went well, and everyone was pleased. If you’d like to listen to the show, go to http://www.npr.org/programs/wait-wait-dont-tell-me/. Of course, it’s probably very different in the human world.
It’s never a normal Easter back home when Rudy is fulfilling his duties as the county Easter Bunny. As usual he was accompanied by Fiona (who sees it as yet another opportunity to cosplay). Dad performed his usual support service, and the new wrinkle was little Wendell coming along for the first time in an official capacity.
It was rather awkward when Wendell showed up dressed as Rudy, right down to the shades. Despite that the evening went smoothly, as Wendell did demonstrate a talent for the job.
That’s when the unthinkable occurred; one of the eggs hatched. These are all supposed to be non-viable, and hard-boiled to boot. Yet, one was locked and loaded.
Dad identified it as a cuckoo, a species which sneaks its eggs into the nests of others to be raised by them. It seems that one Mother Bird got wise to the scam and dealt with the impostor by placing the egg amid the ones for distribution.
Wendell kept it from being eaten by Rudy and Fiona, which caused a problem. What *could* be done with it? Once the eggs were successfully distributed, Dad called me.
Thanks to my new relationship with the Birds, I put out a request for volunteers to adopt the hatchling willingly. A parrot family came forward, and now he’s safe and sound.
All in a night’s work.
Fenton and I drove up to Domain to visit the High Museum. They were having a special exhibit on 20th century artists, and we wanted to view it before it closed on April 29. Piling into the minivan were Dad, Kell, me, Fenton, Rudy, Coney, Dorothy and Elanor.
Many of the works were on loan from MOMA, and all the Big Guns were in attendance: Picasso, Matisse, Pollock… all the way up to Warhol whose great talent was ultimately in the area of self-promotion. But I digress.
Rudy’s interest in art comes and goes, waxing and waning with his athletic accomplishments. Now it’s competing with his gardening competition with Dad, so I hope he doesn’t let it slide completely. Perhaps one day he’ll synthesize all of these fields. Perhaps this show will inspire him. Or, maybe he’ll just end up drawing lame parodies of the works.
Meanwhile, next week at this time Rudy will be delivering Easter eggs. He’ll have Fiona with him as usual, but this year he’ll also be mentoring little Wendell. We’ll see how that battle of wills goes.
