Sunny, windy, chilly
Jan. 26th, 2006 11:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jhetleyJanuary in Maine. Except that the "chilly" should be redefined as above zero F rather than below....
Printed off the draft of Chapter XI this morning, Fat Wizard and Wizard Girlfriend go birdwatching. But he's looking for more...
I needed that other sense that sets wizards apart from normal humans. Some animals can sense magic. Pigeons can't. I'd proved that, long time past. Cats can sense magic, that's one reason why you find them hanging around the edges of so many of the old tales about witches. You won't find me trying to fit into a cat's head, though. I have a strong suspicion that the cat would take over my life, rather than the other way around. Cats are like that.
But those old tales tie other animals to magic, as well. Owls. Wolves. Orcas and ravens and coyotes, in Native American lore. I even seem to recall a magical shark in Polynesian legend, back in the anthropology of magic courses in college.
Mostly hunters, anyway, the animals with sharp eyes and sharp noses, sharp edges and sharper appetites. Sometimes they "smell" it or "taste" it, sometimes it comes through as something strange in sight or hearing. Depends on how the brains are wired.
So I wanted something that could fly, could cover a lot of territory, and could sense magic. Even if I dared to reach into a cat's head and look through her eyes, listen with her ears, she wouldn't have the range I wanted. Katz could be hiding anywhere in the city. That's a lot of ground to cover on four small feet.
Printed off the draft of Chapter XI this morning, Fat Wizard and Wizard Girlfriend go birdwatching. But he's looking for more...
I needed that other sense that sets wizards apart from normal humans. Some animals can sense magic. Pigeons can't. I'd proved that, long time past. Cats can sense magic, that's one reason why you find them hanging around the edges of so many of the old tales about witches. You won't find me trying to fit into a cat's head, though. I have a strong suspicion that the cat would take over my life, rather than the other way around. Cats are like that.
But those old tales tie other animals to magic, as well. Owls. Wolves. Orcas and ravens and coyotes, in Native American lore. I even seem to recall a magical shark in Polynesian legend, back in the anthropology of magic courses in college.
Mostly hunters, anyway, the animals with sharp eyes and sharp noses, sharp edges and sharper appetites. Sometimes they "smell" it or "taste" it, sometimes it comes through as something strange in sight or hearing. Depends on how the brains are wired.
So I wanted something that could fly, could cover a lot of territory, and could sense magic. Even if I dared to reach into a cat's head and look through her eyes, listen with her ears, she wouldn't have the range I wanted. Katz could be hiding anywhere in the city. That's a lot of ground to cover on four small feet.
