Dreaming
A flock of crows swooped down and ate the caterpillars that contained small bits of Siri. Then whales somehow managed to eat the crows. And the whales were swallowed up by volcanoes and suddenly Siri, or at least bits of Siri, was in every creature and every geological feature on Earth. It was one hell of a good finish. (pg. 143, The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill)
I just started this book, but I believe Siri's dreams, like the excerpt above are going to figure prominently in the story.
In my own story, dreams don't have much of an impact. I remember few of my dreams and those that I do are either fairly random or I can easily tell what happened recently to prompt them. What about you? Do you have vivid dreams?
Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Play along. I cheated, but the rules are easy. Grab your current read, ...
My weekend
We went Maple Sugaring this past Saturday at Oglebay in Wheeling, WV. It was a fun, interesting morning. We learned about maple sugaring techniques used by Native Americans, pioneers, and through modern times. It was a gorgeous morning for the walk along the trail to the different stations, and the event ended with a delicious pancake breakfast, featuring fresh maple syrup made from the sap of Oglebay's own trees.
After that we headed down to Centre Market in Wheeling, home of my all-time favorite bookstore, The Paradox Bookstore. It's just stacked full of used books, all genres. I just love it there. I even love that old book smell, although Amber (10) did ask if she could wait outside on the stairs. David and I limited ourselves to one book each. Mine was Silent In The Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn, but I can't remember what David grabbed, some old short piratey novel.
Update: David's book was A Sword for Mr Fitton by...
Another Dragon
Amber (10) painted this on one of her many snow days in February. She loves dragons. By the way, she came in second in her age group (10-12) in the local art show with her Hummingbird drawing....
Game Night – Caylus
Caylus
Designer: William Attia
Manufacturers: Ystari Games, Rio Grande Games
Year: 2005
Players: 2 - 5
Time: 60 - 150 minutes
Ages: 12 and up
2006 Spiel des Jahres winner, Special Award for Complex Game.
This is a great worker-placement game. We've only played it twice, but it's one of those games you can just tell is going to be played over and over.
The year is is 1289. King Philip the Fair has decided to have a new castle built in order to strengthen the kingdom's borders. Now Caylus is a humble village, but soon workers and craftsmen will be flocking to the town, attracted by the great prospects. Around the building site, a city is slowly rising up.
The players are the master builders. By building the castle and developing the city around it, they earn prestige points and gain the King’s favor. When the castle is finished, the player who has earned the most prestige wins...
Rapunzel
"Rapunzel" by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
The Rapunzel story for me could have been boiled down to the mean old witch keeps beautiful Rapunzel in a tower, climbing her hair to visit her. Along comes a prince, learns the secret, has Rapunzel let down her hair to him and the two live happily every after. But then I read the Grimm version at Project Gutenberg.
So how does the witch get Rapunzel? Takes her from her parents, of course. This is a fairy tale. You see, Rapunzel's father snuck into the witch's garden to steal rampion, a leafy green vegetable like spinach for his wife. The witch, of course, catches him, and says he may take all the rampion he can on the condition that he give her his daughter when she is born, promising that "it shall be well treated, and [she] will care for it like a mother." Father agrees, but he didn't really have any choice.
Well, the witch, not...