Appreciating Nature

We took the boys to Bolsa Chica Wetlands for a little hike - well, walk. Bolsa Chica is on a migratory path. And we've had lots of rain. And there has been a major effort over the past couple of years to repopulate the wetlands with native plants.

It was a lovely day. The sun was shining. There was a breeze, but not too hard. The sun was out. Many of the native plants were blooming (Southern California is a coastal desert), which does not always happen.

The boys know the way. Mikey kept 10-20 feet ahead of us, but he stayed with us more-or-less. I called him back from time-to-time to look at herons, least terns, or flowers. We saw some lizards, too.

Blue herons nest here, and we saw one! I saw the nest first. Wasn't really expecting a bird, but there it was - just sitting there.

A hawk flew across our path, and hovered overhead for a while. Of course there were sea gulls and pigeons. And ducks.

Then, up in the sky, I saw a big ... JetBlue plane coming in for a landing. "Look, David," I said, pointing to the plane. "Can you see that big bird up there?"

David didn't quite take the bait. "It's an URBAN bird," he replied.

Happy New Year

January 2

We had the boys the first Saturday of the New Year. Although Mom reported a lot of behavior issues the past few days, they were very good for us. (There was a minor and unexplained Mikey-episode at bath time: he didn't want his hair washed.) Mikey and Grandpa did chores at 1:00 p.m., as usual. Grandma and David did math, as usual. David got through 5 pie pieces (in ALEKS)! We normally strive for 2-3 and settle for 1 if it's a really hard lesson. Math is, of course, cummulative. And, per David, "Grandma's explanations are better than ALEK's." (The real difference between Grandma and ALEKS is that Grandma is PRESENT and can see which parts of explanations are not cutting it, and also see what kinds of errors David is making that reveal what he's thinking.)

Many weekends, we take the boys to a local park in the afternoon; sometimes we "go" somewhere like the Aquarium or Zoo. This week, we asked them if they would like to go to Bolsa Chica Wetlands for a hike. They enthusiastically agreed! (You can see pictures of Bolsa Chica on my Shutterfly account, under "Southern California" http://travelsofmarcdonna.shutterfly.com/.)

It was a beautiful day - over 70 F. at our house. We took jackets; Bolsa Chica is next to the ocean and in a breezeway. The hiking is not rigorous - clear paths and very little elevation gain - but it is a migratory path for birds, and they are out in force right now. We saw nesting herons, terns, lots of ducks. Grandma also pointed out a "motorized flying bird"; to which David, once he spotted it, responded, "That's an AIRPLANE!"

Further down the path, where it gets very close to the water, there was a sign that I had Mikey read: "Only birds beyond this point." Grandpa asked the boys if they thought the birds could read the sign.

The other notable moment was when David observed, "This is my first hike of the new decade!"

We went to a local pizza joint for dinner. They boys like going there because a) they do like the food and b) there are video games they can look at. We had the "family dinner" which has salad, pizza and spaghetti. The salad came first. Mikey said, "May I have dinner, please?" We told him, "Salad first, then dinner." I guess he doesn't see salad as a part of dinner.

De-decking the halls

This is not really an autism-related post. Today, I started taking down Christmas. I came from the East Coast, where the changing seasons provided a spiritual cycle to life. Southern California, where I love living, does not provide that same cycle. Life goes on endlessly blending itself from "season" to "season." There is no clear death/cleansing time when the world is purified by the white snow (well, except in the local mountain resorts). Taking down the decorations is the closest thing I get to it here - the end result is bleak and bare, compared to the warmth and festiveness of lights and decorations. I decorate everything downstairs, even the bathroom; and I have an LED/USB Christmas Tree that plugs into my laptop.

As an earlier blog noted, this has been a strange year for me, with Christmas very impacted. But taking down the decorations is also my time of reflection and personal dedication to the new year. This year, it is not as clear as it has been in the past; but I know I am on my way. Changes there will be; older I shall be. Live has a way of leveling and balancing out eventually. "May you live in interesting times" is, IMHO, a curse. I hope this year will hold very few "interesting times."

Cheers and Happy New Year!