Our choices from Mystic’s lovely tea shop. Photo by Corrina Lawson
I spent Monday at Mystic Aquarium with the twins (17), mostly watching the Beluga whales swim around and say “hello” to the visitors. Ever since I read Voices in the Ocean: A Journey Into the Wild and Haunting World of Dolphins by Susan Casey, which teaches exactly how intelligent dolphins and their relatives are and then proceeds to tells how humanity slaughters and mistreats them, I’ve ambivalent at my joy in seeing the Belugas.
But Mystic’s Belugas were brought in as needing rescue, and they have one large tank all to themselves, and they’re only taught behaviors so the aquarium staff can monitor their health. All that helps.
The Belugas definitely seem to notice people, as the male sometimes stops at the underwater viewing area and looks directly at his visitors, the watched becoming the watcher. He also once tapped the glass where I’d set my hand. I moved the hand and he tapped it again. Numerous times, I’ve also heard him vocalize to the crowd. I wish I knew what he was saying.
We also had time to watch the penguins, see various types of fish, including the always interesting rays, and attend the sea lion show. The show has evolved over the years from sea lions doing tricks to an educational-format where the tricks are used to teach people about sea lions.
Then it was time for downtown Mystic, an early dinner at Mystic Pizza (of course!) and a stroll to the shops, which includes a fabulous independent bookstore, Bank Square Books. My daughter found five books in a series that she’s been wanting to own, so we bought all of them.
The biggest find was the Spice and Tea shop. The 1,000 kinds of salt? (It seemed like that many…) Not interested. The tea? YES. They do mail orders, check out the web addy right on their packages.
As to the rest of my month? I’ve been busy writing a zillion blog posts, for Heroes & Heartbreakers, B&N SF/F and, of course, GeekMom and GeekDad.
The list:
My B&N SF/F author page. If you want, you can bookmark that to see my latest posts as they go up This month, it’s an interview with the creative team behind Monstress, one of this year’s best comics, an interview with Christopher Priest of Black Panther who’s now writing DC’s Deathstroke, and books I’d like to see turned into comics.
GeekMom/GeekDad: Again, the link will take you to all my articles. This month: the San Diego Zoo, my interviews with the cast of Wynonna Earp, a quick look at my encounter with Neil deGrasse Tyson, and what I believe would make the dream comic convention. Hint: it would look a ton like RWA National.
And, finally, a review I wrote of Chuck Wendig’s Invasive at Heroes & Heartbreakers, a review Wendig called his “favorite so far.” 🙂
Also, that erotica novella I’ve been working on? It’s about 17,000 words and only 1,000 from completion. It’s a menage S&M story, as the hero is Philip Drake from Phoenix Legacy, who still has some issues that he must overcome. (The research on this one was a trip and a half.) In the end, it’s all about finding your family, whatever form that takes.