"Lock the doors and close the blinds -- we're going for a ride..."

Yesterday was exhausting and productive. We moved into our home in March of 2001, and we hadn't really had much of a chance to do anything to our front or back yards. The front yard isn't much of an issue, since we're technically a condominium unit and the subdivision does landscaping. But we decided it would be nice to spruce up the front bushes with some colors. So we bought some flowers for K and Av to plant -- as well as a birdfeeder to hang on the tree near our front steps. We have quite a few orioles and cardinals in our neighborhood; hopefully the news will spread quickly through word of beak.

While they were planting flowers, I started in on the jungle that is our backyard. It has been an overgrown thicket of ivy and bushes with some stunted fir trees mixed in. We have the landscaping design which the owners in the mid-80s had implemented in our kitchen -- it looked beautiful back then. But in the mid-1990s the house was sold as a rental property, and it appears that nobody took care of the back yard since then. So I was left to the task of cutting back weeds and branches which were literally blocking the door to actually get in and out of the yard!

A couple hours later we could see the path. And I had bagged enough branches and vines of ivy to shake a stic... er, branch with. We still have work to do (cleaning off the brick patio of excess mud and leaves, getting rid of these ugly 70s style planters, inventorying the numerous abandoned charcoal grills left out there to rust), but at least it's a good start.

We had quite a fun time this afternoon. It was simply beautiful out. As the roads were clogged going into DC because of all the Rolling Thunder motorcycle traffic, we decided to head on over to Old Town Alexandria for a trip to the playground and the Potomac River shoreline -- with a late lunch at the old Torpedo Factory. This area of our home city makes us proud to live here: many of the buildings were built in the 18th and 19th centuries and have been preserved as historic landmarks. Yet they now serve as residences, offices and antique stores. We'd love to move to Old Town if we could afford the real estate, the parking and the flood insurance.

On the way home, numerous events prompted me to discuss the amazing super powers our family members have, Perhaps we're not talking about X-Men caliber, which is fine with me. After all, Kelsey Grammer is going to take on the role of "Beast" in the next X-Men film, so the stock is pretty low right now. But perhaps our super powers take on those from the movie (and graphic novel series) "Mystery Men."

Take, for instance, Av. He has a telekinetic ability of sorts -- in that what he dreams about becomes reality. Example: While we were walking through Old Town, we saw a fire truck parked outside of the volunteer company station. It was exciting for him. And once that left, we approached the station and saw another rig inside. Also inside was a restored fire wagon from the late nineteenth century! But then we were heading back to the car and he had a fit -- because he wanted to see more fire trucks. We told him that, perhaps, we would look for more on the way. He was tired and cranky. Understandable.

He fell asleep about five minutes into the short ride home -- at which point we saw fire truck after fire truck after fire truck. But we didn't dare wake him.

The funny thing is -- this has happened before -- he wants to see planes, he falls asleep, and then suddenly we're passing an airport. He wants to see doggies, he falls asleep, and then we pass a dog park. The kid simply has got talent. Or super powers...

And then there's K. She has two specific super powers I know of. The first is her "parking karma." If she's in the car, she can find a good space. I have never had such luck without her in the car -- the one exception being when she was in labor and I dropped her off at the emergency room entrance and then immediately parked right behind the hospital. Which was in a crowded are in downtown DC.

Her second power is controlling the weather. Or predicting it. Today we decided we would leave Old Town at a specific time. The sun was shining until we started driving away, and then it became dark and all. Same thing happened yesterday at Home Depot -- as soon as we were leaving, high winds and rain picked up and a fast-moving storm swept through. And at the beach last week -- exactly the same thing. Funny thing is -- by the time we've gotten back home all three times? The weather has been fine!

I've been listening to the Quandary Phase of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" radio series -- based on the fourth book of the "trilogy," So Long and Thanks For All the Fish. In it is a character named Rob McKenna who, unbeknownst to himself, is a rain god. Meaning the rain simply follows him whereever he goes, ruining everything from driving conditions (he's part of a trucking company) to his vacations at his brother's place in Seattle. Perhaps K is the anti-Rain? Whatever it is, she does it well.

And then there's me. Finding my super power was tough. I narrowed it down to three, but I think they boil down to skill rather than super powers. First -- I never, ever get lost on the road. I can drive my way out of anything. I usually can find magnetic north just by feel. And I can memorize maps easily.

Second -- if we have a shopping list of three or more items, I'll walk into a supermarket -- any supermarket -- and find at least one of the items on sale. Spooky, huh?

Third -- play me a snippet of any song I've heard previously -- backwards. As long as I have three seconds of it, I can turn it around in my head and identify the song.

Now -- how can we make these powers useful in fighting crime?