Revealing our secret SUPERpowers

HALLIE EPHRON: My 6-year-old granddaughter has a superpower. She can whistle. Not the hail-a-cab whistle, but whistle-a-tune whistle. My husband’s superpower is that he can play his head. His head is particularly resonant, though his repertoire is pretty much limited to Turkey in the Straw.

I cannot play my head or whistle, but I can make pie crust. I’m pretty good at speedy vegetable chopping  and card shuffling, too. After watching the Ken Burns program about country music, I wished I could yodel. And this holiday I wished I had turkey-carving in my quiver. Instead I make a hash of it.

What are your superpowers, and are there any you wish you had?

LUCY BURDETTE: Making cakes from scratch I think is my superpower. My yellow cake with caramel frosting reigns supreme, though I have a few chocolate cakes in my repertoire that cause swooning. When the grandkids and nephews arrive in February for a visit, I’m thinking of trying a sprinkle cake--colored sprinkles all the way through and in the icing.

And planning and organizing trips. I’m really happy with the travel experiences we’ve had over the last years. Hopefully many more to come! And buying books, more than I can read. I’m very, very good at that!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I can’t whistle, I can’t snap my fingers, and I can’t blow bubbles, so I definitely need some kind of superpower! I’m not much of a baker, either, sigh. But I can make a mean soup, and a perfectly proper pot of tea. I’m also really good at finding my way around London, and at giving travel tips to other Anglophiles!

RHYS BOWEN: I’m a useless baker, never learned to whistle through my fingers but I used to ride a mean boogie board ( so well that two teenagers once asked me for instructions). I also can remember the words to every song I’ve sung.

JENN McKINLAY: I can whistle, can’t play my head, I can boogie board, shuffle cards, and I do love to bake. I’m not extraordinarily good at these things but competent.

I think my greatest superpower is that I’m ridiculously handy. All by myself -- although sometimes with the hooligans if I am teaching them something -- I’ve painted every room in this house, built a screened in porch, built a brick patio, built a swing set/fort, changed all of the locks, ripped up all the carpet, tiled two floors and put wood in three others, put in all new faucets, and refinished all of the kitchen cabinets. I’m having professionals do the heavy stuff - new counters and appliances for the kitchen. But then, I’m looking to remodel my laundry room all by myself. Can’t wait. I love this stuff!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: No whistling, no matter how hard I try. I can roll my tongue and pump it up, but that doesn’t get me very far. I’m pretty ambidextrous, so I can play tennis with both hands, meaning I have two forehands. It is very confusing to my opponent. I can make a pretty good dinner out of whatever is in the refrigerator, those one time only recipes that you can never duplicate. I can also sing songs using only the first letters of the words—oscys! Would be “ oh say can you see.” And I can do that really fast, almost without thinking.

And me too, Rhys. I know words to every song. Sadly, I fear that may be taking up too much work room in my brain.

Oh! My other superpower is that I can find lost stuff— even things someone else lost. it’s very bizarre.



JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I'm beginning to think my superpower is giving sensible life advice to millennials, since it's something I seem to be doing a LOT of lately. My other superpowers? I can tell if you have a fever - and roughly what degree it is-by touching your forehead. Also, all dogs love me. I mean, even ones I'm pretty much ignoring. I can make a great fire in a wood stove with newspaper, six small sticks and a couple of split logs. 

My kids think my superpower is the ability to talk to anyone, anywhere, about anything. This is an hereditary superpower, since my mother was able to do the same thing. Maybe I should try to combine my strengths by becoming a traveling dog-walker/nurses aide who brightens shut-ins lives with hours of conversation?

HALLIE: This is reminding me of a superpower my daughters had. They could talk backwards. Naomi's name was I-Mo-Ane. Molly was Why-Lom. They could converse like that. Weird.

So what are your superpowers? Can you fold fitted sheets? Salsa dance? Juggle? Run marathons?? Say the alphabet backwards???