Super Powers

One of my favorite superheroes has powers that do not include leaping tall buildings, propelling a canoe quickly and precisely through rapids that would terrify the average mortal, or launching heavy objects further than the average mortal.  Her powers in the cerebral realm, include the ability to perform mental tasks exceeding the average mortal. 
She demonstrated those powers this past Saturday at a Science Olympiad event held at Booth Middle School.  Ordinary sixth grade mortals were at home watching Phenius and Ferb like me.  She loves that academic stuff.  She in fact recently was overheard saying, "I wonder what it's like to not make all A's." 
That's quite a different attitude from her oldest brother Benn.  In middle school his attitude was that any grade higher than an 89.5 demonstrated waisted effort.  Brother Davis followed Benn to middle school and elevated that attitude to an art form.  In his academic philosophy any grade that rounded up to more than a C was waisted effort.  I think I caught him once putting forth extra effort to pull down and average that somehow edged up into the B range.
Speaking of my other two superheroes, Davis recently demonstrated his vulnerability by having to deal with an anatomical malady.  He called and said he has a "Pilo-something Cyst."  "Pile of what cyst," I asked?  He said that was close and I should google or you tube it, but not too close to meal time.  Turns out it was a Pilonidal Cyst and I'll spare you details as they are just as gross as my initial mispronunciation might bring to mind if your imagination is as twisted as mine.  He did however heroically endure lancing the cyst without anesthesia while lying on a table in the track training room, a table whose edges under his hands turned to pil-o-sawdust on the floor.
I should get back to the cerebral hero however.  She had a really good day at Science Olympiad.  It was a lot like a track meet where there are no big sweaty guys growling as they heave heavy objects.  It was a lot like a canoe race where there is no danger of cracking your boat or face on a rock or getting caught in a hydraulic.  Okay, no, it was nothing like either of those except in that it was intense competition but of a vastly different kind performed by a mostly different kind of kid. 
Addie, in fact, is very like her brothers in her competitiveness.  She is not prone to scream intensely and gutturally during Science Olympiad competition like Davis has done at times throwing shot put.  She does approach the academic intensity with which Benn studies currents and flows and surges and pole hieghts and placement and stroke placement and rock locations, but she doesn't end up wet. 
Like the boys, she does love to win.  And she did.  She came home with three ribbons.  I won't claim of course that she was the only kid to do very well that morning, but that doesn't matter.  I saw the movie and know that there is more than one Green Lantern in the universe.  That makes him no less a superhero and applies to her as well.  He had a cool ring, which is not bad.  I'll bet he didn't have three ribbons.