Well, I have been shying away from typing these up (somewhat due to the whining nature of some of my posts) but I need to catch up seeing how my last post was five days ago.
The first entry picks up in the aftenoon where my last one left off: on Monday August, 14th.
5:46 PM EST
I'm at the top of the hill in Memorial Park. I say hill but it's still about a 700ft high climb. All in all, a short steep hike. It's nice and peaceul. Most of town is obscured from view by the other hills that make up the Connecticut River Valley but I have a nice angle at Wantastiquet Mountain in it's full glory with a good look at the open lane where we descended last year. The falls and the creek are too small to make out from this distance but the break in the trees clearly shows the straight down direct approach we took.
It looks like Rob and Ash have decided to hike up and join me.
August 16, 2006 3:43 EST
No post for Tuesday. We left the apartment relatively early and I didn't bring my bookbag. By the time I'd hiked downtown I wasn't willing to backtrack to Rob's just for my bag. A sixty second drive takes far longer on foot.
We took Ashlyn to a multi-activity play facility for some mini-golf and go-carts. They also had a driving range and I took some time to work on my swing. It was fun but if I had known we would be gone all day I would have stayed in Bratt.
First off, it took forty-five minutes just to drive there using state highways. No one has said anything but I think Pat is afraid to get on the interstate. (Not that there's any traffic on it up here!) We could have shaved approximately twenty minutes off our drive right there. It didn't help that on the way back we stopped at not one but two stores. Whatever...
I'm at Mocha Joes and I'm finding it increasingly difficult and tiresome trying to get back to the Spencer's for dinner. Tonight it's at 5PM and it's bad enough that I have to stop whatever vacation activity/project I'm into but I have to hike all the way back to their house and then back to whatever else I do. It's as if everyone forgets I don't have a car. They just expect me to be able to get wherever I want at the same rate of speed as everyone else. I've just been skipping dinner a couple nights but I feel rude doing it and tonight they are making one of my favorites: eggplant parmisan. So I can't skip out. The other problem is by the time dinner is finished, and I've stayed a polite enough time, all the shops in town have closed. This doesn't bother them because they have no reason to go into town, They live here and can come sight see anytime the urge fills them. It's a bit frustrating.
I need to come hang out at night even if most places are closed. I haven't been sleeping well anyway. At least I have been updating my blogs more often. And I've found some interesting resources on autism.
With all this focus on Rowan I am going to do my damnest to make sure Aidan does not feel neglected. If you put it in the proper perspective it becomes clear that we have two, not one, children who require special needs attention and education. Rowan because of speech and social skills and Aidan who is highly gifted and talented.
I went to the Book Cellar today to look for books about raising a child with Asprger's/Autism and stumbled upon am excellent book on gifted children titled Parenting Gifted Kids by James R. Delisle PhD. I sat there for over an hour reading chapter after chapter and ultimately could not buy it simply because it was $16.95 and we need to hold on to our assets until I'm earing a paycheck again. I need to put it on an Amazon wish list or something though because we are going to need help in raising Aidan or he will go through some of the same complications I went through that still effect me to this day. Most of my radical views on the educational system are molded after my own experiences as a gifted child not being put to uses that best flex his intellectual muscle. The truth is that public school is best used for conformity, and for an average (or below average) child it is adequate in preparing him/her for society. With a gifted child. however, conformity stymies growth emotionally and intellectually. I will not allow that path for Aidan.
The first entry picks up in the aftenoon where my last one left off: on Monday August, 14th.
5:46 PM EST
I'm at the top of the hill in Memorial Park. I say hill but it's still about a 700ft high climb. All in all, a short steep hike. It's nice and peaceul. Most of town is obscured from view by the other hills that make up the Connecticut River Valley but I have a nice angle at Wantastiquet Mountain in it's full glory with a good look at the open lane where we descended last year. The falls and the creek are too small to make out from this distance but the break in the trees clearly shows the straight down direct approach we took.
It looks like Rob and Ash have decided to hike up and join me.
August 16, 2006 3:43 EST
No post for Tuesday. We left the apartment relatively early and I didn't bring my bookbag. By the time I'd hiked downtown I wasn't willing to backtrack to Rob's just for my bag. A sixty second drive takes far longer on foot.
We took Ashlyn to a multi-activity play facility for some mini-golf and go-carts. They also had a driving range and I took some time to work on my swing. It was fun but if I had known we would be gone all day I would have stayed in Bratt.
First off, it took forty-five minutes just to drive there using state highways. No one has said anything but I think Pat is afraid to get on the interstate. (Not that there's any traffic on it up here!) We could have shaved approximately twenty minutes off our drive right there. It didn't help that on the way back we stopped at not one but two stores. Whatever...
I'm at Mocha Joes and I'm finding it increasingly difficult and tiresome trying to get back to the Spencer's for dinner. Tonight it's at 5PM and it's bad enough that I have to stop whatever vacation activity/project I'm into but I have to hike all the way back to their house and then back to whatever else I do. It's as if everyone forgets I don't have a car. They just expect me to be able to get wherever I want at the same rate of speed as everyone else. I've just been skipping dinner a couple nights but I feel rude doing it and tonight they are making one of my favorites: eggplant parmisan. So I can't skip out. The other problem is by the time dinner is finished, and I've stayed a polite enough time, all the shops in town have closed. This doesn't bother them because they have no reason to go into town, They live here and can come sight see anytime the urge fills them. It's a bit frustrating.
I need to come hang out at night even if most places are closed. I haven't been sleeping well anyway. At least I have been updating my blogs more often. And I've found some interesting resources on autism.
With all this focus on Rowan I am going to do my damnest to make sure Aidan does not feel neglected. If you put it in the proper perspective it becomes clear that we have two, not one, children who require special needs attention and education. Rowan because of speech and social skills and Aidan who is highly gifted and talented.
I went to the Book Cellar today to look for books about raising a child with Asprger's/Autism and stumbled upon am excellent book on gifted children titled Parenting Gifted Kids by James R. Delisle PhD. I sat there for over an hour reading chapter after chapter and ultimately could not buy it simply because it was $16.95 and we need to hold on to our assets until I'm earing a paycheck again. I need to put it on an Amazon wish list or something though because we are going to need help in raising Aidan or he will go through some of the same complications I went through that still effect me to this day. Most of my radical views on the educational system are molded after my own experiences as a gifted child not being put to uses that best flex his intellectual muscle. The truth is that public school is best used for conformity, and for an average (or below average) child it is adequate in preparing him/her for society. With a gifted child. however, conformity stymies growth emotionally and intellectually. I will not allow that path for Aidan.
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