New Years in Leadville, Colorado 2015

The morning before we went to Colorado, I couldn’t sleep, so I took some time to go through some old stuff of mine and worked on uncluttering my room, putting my pebbles, old news clippings from others, photos, paper clips, Lego instructions, Legos, and condoms together, and recycling old bits of paper. Then I scooped Peter’s litter box. After that we drove down to Colorado. I also started reading The Tao of Leadership. We went to Whole Food’s, and I got a new non-crown bottle cap from a drink I got there. Finally, we got to Colorado and heard Jamie, Graham, and Nick were staying in Denver that night. 

                The next day as I went into town with my mom, with the toilet still not working yet, it occurred to me that poverty cannot be the sole reason for lack of plumbing in the Third World but perhaps lack of experienced engineers and taxpayers to pay for and dig sewage systems. Indeed, it seems that while we in the West may send them so many doctors and teachers, they have so few in their own countries, and the way we practice medicine and schooling in the U.S. may need to be adapted to fit the cultures of the Third World. My mom and I then shred a Bhakti Chai while I nibbled on a chocolate blueberry scone and a chocolate chip cookie. Then I went into Minerals and bought myself several different fossils, a leather sack, and a worry stone for my mom. After that I went to Fire on the Mountain and bought myself a crochet needle. I also went to Weston Hardware and bought myself five new Native American post cards. My mom came and met me there and I gave her the worry stone, for which she thanked me, and she bought me a salted caramel. 

                When we got back, we found out our toilets were working again. I also organized all the recyclables in my duffle bag into bags from all my times shopping at Weston Hardware. After a dinner of shrimp scampy (for me just the shrimp) I read (or reread) more of The Silmarillion. Then I found out, after talking with Verizon about my phone, which had me locked out and was frozen, that my phone was broken, and I needed a new phone, luckily covered by the warranty, which they could transfer all my contacts and photos onto. I also thought back to how I realized why our attempts to build infrastructure in the Third World don’t go so well, and saw that social sciences are not useless on par with math and science like people think. 

                The next morning, I read more of The Silmarillion. Then I gathered some wood to make a reclaimed cross. After that I went into town and got some chocolate peanut butter cake from the coffee shop, four blood red buttons for my snake from Fire on the Mountain, a jigsaw puzzle from the bookstore, and some chuckles from Weston Hardware. Shortly after that my mom, Dave, Graham, and I went to the Grill, and I had some delicious tacos. I got back and read more of The Silmarillion. The next morning, I read more of The Silmarillion. After that I completed my jigsaw puzzle. Then I did some puzzles on-line. Later I read more of The Silmarillion. The next day I found some more wood for making bottle cap signs. It turned out that we would be leaving Colorado on the second of January rather than the first, because my mom was having severe headaches and needed to get home to get them treated.

                After we dropped off Dave, we listened to Comedy Central Radio to pass the time. After that I drove on the highway for about an hour. My mom and I then switched, and after that I drove for another hour. After that we switched and continued to listen to Comedy Central Radio some more, while I realized that Legolas may have been the way he was portrayed in The Hobbit movies (with the exception of Tauriel, as she was only added to put in a female character) because if he had been in Thranduil’s army during the siege of Erebor by the elves, he might have been a prominent soldier who Gloin would have recognized and told Gimli about, and they would have both treated Legolas with hostility at the Council of Elrond, and Legolas’s mother may have been dead because when Thorin was interrogated by Thranduil, Thranduil’s wife did not sit next to him as Queen of Greenwood, and Legolas and Gimli might not have become such good friends. I also realized that ASAN-KC works with disability-related organizations involved in social science (disability studies), art, music, and literature, which are my passions, and I finally decided that I am not all that passionate about filmmaking. As we got home, I realized my tendency to “hoard” may have come from the fact that in the past, I did not always think I would have very much beyond the bare necessities, and wanted to save what little luxuries I had (bottle caps, Lord of the Rings bookmarks, postcards, etc.), and that I used to have so much trouble with school work (around elementary school) and developmental milestones that I often had trouble understanding what people wanted from me later in life, whether teachers, parents, or bosses.

Autistic Pride Day in Leadville

On the morning before our trip to Colorado, I did not sleep at all for some reason (that just happens sometimes I guess), but I realized that if a chapter of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network is opening up in Kansas City, then it will be very close to the autistic social network/mutual aid society I started at JCCC and a similar organization that a friend of mine from high school started at Penn Valley, as well as Elizabeth’s group at KU (I thought), so they may be able to work together for their own mutual benefit.  I also remembered how Tyler said he thinks of me whenever he’s stressed as it makes him feel better.  We headed off to Colorado afterwards, and while we drove, I worked on my travel plans to Turkey.  I also got a new bottle cap for my collection from a drink at the gas station.  I also drove a little bit on the highway with some caffeine, during which time my mom taught me cruise control, and both she and Dave thought I drove really well.  

Next Wednesday would be Autistic Pride Day so I worked on a post for that holiday that was inspired by a post I had seen on Facebook called Thoughts from a Female Aspie.  We went to Whole Food’s where I got another bottle cap for my collection from a drink I got there.  Finally we made it to our home, which looked very different, and I could even see a stone patio and found several pebbles for my collection.  I saw that our bathroom had been almost finished.  I also got another new bottle cap for my collection from our drinks here.  Then Dave gave me new cell-phone charger.  After that I helped get my bed made. 

The next day Dave offered to pay me to pull the weeds from our patio after I finished meditating.  I also did fairly well with making eggs after some good pieces of bacon that Dave made.  He always makes good bacon.  Later I went to the recycling center with my mom and Dave, where I found two new bottle caps, one crown and one not, and then I helped them at the dump.  My mom and I got coffee and I got a lemon bar after that.  Then we went to pay the woman who remodeled our house, Sandra, and I went with my mom and Dave to help give her a feeling of appreciation by seeing more of the family whose house she helped remodel.  Indeed her neighborhood was very nice and clean, although the houses were by no means big.  Dave and I went to the taco truck outside Safe Way afterwards where I found several bottle caps lying around, including a new one for my collection and several for my wall fish.  I also got a new bottle cap from my drink they got me at Safe Way.  I drove back home so my mom and Dave could show me the way into town, which turned out to be a pretty easy drive.  I also met Elizabeth’s friend Kelly through e-mail inviting me to speak at the panel for autistic adults to the kids at her camp, Camp Encourage, after hearing of me from Elizabeth, and I accepted. 

                I got back and worked on my mandala made from plastic bags and realized how the words I make transcending sections of the mandala would give the piece a feeling of unity, just like my Drawing I teacher said intersecting shadow lines do in drawing, and how I will also have interesting and diverse pictures on there from all the different bags.  Then I worked on pulling the weeds until it started to rain and I went back inside and worked on my plastic bag mandala.  I also wrote in my bottle cap collecting journal.  I pulled more weeds until it was impossible to uproot any more of them and Dave thanked me for doing that.  Then I read about all the ruins along the Lycian Way and realized there seems to be all sorts of things right up my alley to do in all the different parts of Turkey.  I also realized that perhaps I may have had an influence on the Kansas Legislature’s willingness to pass a bill requiring some autism coverage with my testimony at the Kansas Legislature, which Elizabeth also attended.  After a dinner of pork chops and apple sauce that had some pieces of broken glass in It from the container breaking at Whole Foods, I worked on a belt made from plarn for my granddad for Father’s Day, and during that time I also realized that my blogging and other work may have prompted people to push for things such as the anti-bullying legislation, and they may have also prompted insurance companies to fear a broader autism coverage bill to be pass and prompted them to push for their current bill. 

                The next morning I cooked some bacon and eggs.  Later I took a walk around the train tracks and creek with my mom and Dave, where I found several more pebbles, some molten rock, including some to give to Jack and Tyler as gifts, and several bb shells, saw several beaver dams, and enjoyed being around Wally.  Afterwards I read thirty-six pages of The Divine Madman, where I sort of realized that Drukpa Kunley’s sexual exploits and promiscuity may have been a way to teach the girls how illusory romantic satisfaction, and I worked on a Father’s Day present for my granddad.  I helped Mom and Dave move some furniture after that.  Then I called Granddad, who agreed with how I might have influenced several moves that have helped autism, and Dad to wish them a happy Father’s Day.  After a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, where I did try and somewhat like zucchini, I finished and posted both my Ben’s Blog posts for today.  After that I talked to Tyler for a bit.

                The next day I cooked some eggs, and then read some more of The Divine Madman, which actually helped my better grasp the Tibetan language, which still has a long way to go, and I got an appreciation for how Buddhism is good in all trials as all trials are indeed impermanent.  I later went down to the National Forest and Turquoise Lake with my mom, Dave, and the dogs where I took several photos and we picked up several recyclables.  I got back and finished a belt made from plastic bags.  Then I worked on my wood drawing for my granddad, which I was so satisfied with I would be sure to take a picture of to have a sort of copy for myself.  On the way to dinner I did see that the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network had successfully gotten the Autism CARES Act to include changing the agency which looks at issues of adults with autism.  I went to the Grill with my mom and Dave, where I had some delicious steak and chicken tacos.  We got back and watched Ron White’s A Little Unprofessional on Netflix after that, in which he seemed to have gone downhill from when I had seen him before. 

                The next day Later I went into town with my mom and got some tacos at the taco truck, which I learned you can ask for with just meat and they will remember it, and I found a new bottle cap lying around as well as several ones that would be good for my Rainbow Fish wall fish, and got a new one from my drink I got there.  My mom and I went into town and I got a guitar-shaped mints tin, a hazelnut truffle, and a box of edible flowers, which I didn’t realize what it was, but realized my mom might like it and decided to give it to her as a Mother’s Day present.  Then I got three more Native American post cards to frame as wall art with my other post cards and they all have a theme of warriorship.  I gave Mom the gardening kit and she loved it.  Then I drove to the liquor store, which we remembered on the way home and got some new beer, and I realized my bottle cap collecting journal also functions well as a beverage tasting journal.  I drove back and when I got home I got another new bottle cap for my collection.  Afterwards I edited my Autistic Pride Day post.  Then I worked on my travel plans to Turkey.  After that I wrote in my dream journal for today, yesterday, and the day before that.  I had a great turkey sandwich with the sauce from the taco truck.

                The next day Then I assembled the other bunk bed for our room.  After that I worked on my travel plans to Turkey.  After that I went on a walk by our tracks with my mom and Dave into an old abandoned mine field outside our property and found several new pebbles, picked up some trash and recycling, saw another bird species, and I realized what it must be like to explore Turkey with all its hidden secrets and undiscovered ruins.  I also found some bone in the park and several clay pebbles on our property.  After that I worked on my Autistic Pride Day blog post, which I finished and posted after a dinner of pizza, with some frustration of uploading my pictures. 

                The next day I got a new bottle cap from my drink at the café my mom and I ate and much to her delight, she finished her bagel sandwich before me this time.  Afterwards I helped her move a trundle bed into our car and into our house.  On the way back to Minturn, we saw a deer carcass on the side of the road.  I also decided I wanted to use my career to help kick-start an Autistic Renaissance.  Then I got a buttered bagel and a Chai tea smoothie at a coffee shop in Minturn, before buying a CD called Turkish Groove (recommended by Lonely Planet) at Scarab.  On the way back to our house we saw an eagle and a coyote feasting on the deer carcass, which I realized must attract wildlife.  I got back to our house and Later I read about Cultural Studies and decided I might like to do something with that as well as filmmaking.  After a dinner of a turkey sandwich with sauce from the Mexican taco truck and brewing some hot tea, Graham and Lane, his girlfriend, arrived and I got to meet Lane, and it was nice to see them.

                The next day we got some tacos at the taco truck and found some more of my rainbow fish wall fish before went white-water rafting.  After that we went to Tennessee Pass where I learned Lane’s sister is a blogger with Asperger syndrome and I gave Lane the addresses to my blogs and my e-mail address to send me a link to her sister’s blog.

                The next day we drove home and I got another new bottle cap from my drink along the way I also got some tacos at the taco truck with my mom, Dave, Graham, and Lane, and found some more of my rainbow fish wall fish.  Then we went white-water rafting.  After that we went to Tennessee Pass where I learned Lane’s sister is a blogger with Asperger syndrome and I gave Lane the addresses to my blogs and my e-mail address to send me a link to her sister’s blog.

                The next day we drove home and I got a new bottle cap again from a drink at the gas station along with some spicy chips.  I also practiced some highway driving for about an hour and both my mom and Dave said I did really well.  When we got home I found out I worked from 4-10 the next Friday.

The Family Goes South

Our train pulled into New Mexico passing by many adobe houses until finally it arrived outside Santa Fe and my mom, Dave, and I boarded a shuttle along with several other passengers. The only thing is my mom and Dave forgot to call meaning I didn’t have a seat so I had to sit on the floor. Fortunately, when one passenger got out, I got to sit in the front seat. We passed adobe houses, restaurants, and shops until we got into Santa Fe. We made it to our apartment then we decided to explore the town a little bit before going to eat. My mom and I stopped by at a store called Dinosaurs and More which had many dazzling crystal and dinosaur fossils as well as many inexpensive but still genuine oyster, shark’s tooth, seashell, petrified wood, and other types of fossils. I bought an oyster fossil, deciding not to buy too much else for now in case I saw other things I wanted to buy and then my mom and I met up with Dave at a restaurant where we sat out on the balcony and I enjoyed a burger with bacon and fried egg along with a generous glass of Chipotle beer. Afterwards we bought postcards for my mom to send to her family members and for me to send to Tyler. 

The next day, my mom, Dave, and I explored another fossil shop and a beautiful adobe Catholic cathedral before eating lunch where I made two tacos, one beef and one green Italian sausage. Afterwards we went into a bookstore where I, always with my creative side, perused books on Islamic calligraphy and Indian and Tibetan Buddhist religious art, while Mom purchased an old DVD called Five Easy Pieces with Jack Nicholson. I stayed at the apartment while my mom and Dave got massages then we ate at a high end restaurant where I found a new bottle cap for my collection in one of the buckets of bottles and enjoyed a delicious butter roasted chicken. After dinner we stopped by a Whole Foods where we got Imported Harp’s Beer and Strawberry Izzy Esques. We tried to watch Five Easy Pieces that night but couldn’t get our DVD player to work. 

The next day we went to Los Alamos and stopped first in Bandelier National Park where we saw ruins of a Native American village and Anasazi mud huts, cliff dwellings, petroglyphs, and ceremonial pits in the mountains. I learned about how the Anasazi might have moved up into the mountains to escape floods as the river nearby often rises in water level as it’s stream gets narrower, something I learned in Geology, and realized that many cultures probably remained more “primitive” because they had to adapt to new environments that they moved to due to wildebeest migrations, hunting, volcanoes, and warfare. While there, I also thought that the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Groups website also needs to have a place where members can share their experiences before and after, inside the group and out. We made it to a café in Los Alamos afterwards where I enjoyed a hot dog wrapped in a bagel. Then we went to the Bradbury Science Museum where much of what I learned in my History class about the atomic bomb was mentioned here.

We ordered some Indian take-out that night, allowing me to feast on chicken satay, tandoori chicken, naan, and rice. That night Mom and I also watched Five Easy Pieces, Jack Nicholson playing a jerk in relationship with an empty-headed blonde using my mom’s laptop and I wrote Tyler’s postcard. Then the next day when we were scheduled to leave my mom and I mailed our postcards and I bought a piece of petrified wood at a local store, before seeing the Georgia O’Keffe Exhibit. Afterwards, I went back to Dinosaurs and More and bought a shark’s tooth, shell, and a few other fossils. Right before leaving Santa Fe, my mom bought me a t-shirt at a Santa Fe store where I bought a prehistoric shark’s tooth and two other fossils, then we took a taxi that brought us to the train. We slept in a sleeping coach that night eating dinner on the train, my enjoying a steak due to the fact that it was paid for through the train fare. The train was scheduled to arrive in Kansas City at 7:15 in the morning and though I had to sleep on the top bunk of the coach, I never-the-less had a fruitful trip to Santa Fe.

The Cradle of Civilizations

I emptied the cat’s litter box and packed some more before we went to the airport. We got on the airplane and took off to Boston, Massachusetts. We took a bus to our hotel where there was a jar of chocolate and macadamia nut cookies for visitors. Mom, Dave, and I each took one then took the elevator up to our room. It had a living room with a foldout couch, a television that hung on the wall, a dark wood desk with steel legs with wheels, and a lamp in the corner. There was a microwave and a sink in the corner facing a dark wooden framed mirror and a trash can. The floor had rectangular ceramic tiles a carpet with orange and gray waves on one side and dark gray and light gray waves on another. The only other rooms were the bathroom and the bedroom.

Mom and Dave looked up restaurants and decided on the Garden of the Cellar. We took a taxi and reached Harvard College. Mom and Dave liked its gothic architecture, but I thought it was kind of ugly.

We made it to the Garden of the Cellar where we sat at a small table. Mom sat next to Dave and I sat across from them. I drank a glass of water then had a keg beer. The appetizer included bread with olive oil and for dinner I ordered a cellar burger, medium, with mustard on the side. The burger was huge and came with rosemary fries. The mustard was rather spicy but that was good and I shared a small round donut with Mom, which came with several dipping sauces. After we paid and left, we walked through the neighborhood where I saw several bookstores until we hailed a taxi and rode back to our hotel. We each had a chocolate and macadamia nut cookie before we took the elevator up to our room.

The next day I got up, took a shower, and then went down to breakfast. I had two cinnamon rolls which tasted very fresh, a cup of orange juice, and a sausage patty. On the television was a man talking to a fortune-teller in Morocco then to a man in Mali.

After breakfast we brought our stuff down to the lobby and walked up the street from our hotel. We passed an antique shop with a brightly painted sign and after a taxi ride we passed several old-fashioned colonial neighborhoods and saw the obelisk, which was nearly thirty stories tall. I climbed the steep spiral staircase up the building occasionally holding onto the wall to let families go down and use the railing. I made it to the top where I could see Boston below through rectangular windows.  The walk down was considerably easier than the walk up.

After that we saw Freedom Park and made it to where we could see the U. S. S. Constitution and a World War II destroyer in addition to a magnificent suspension bridge. In the distance I could see a tall clock tower. We followed a brick line known as the Freedom Trail until we reached an old cemetery, which was a great way for me to contemplate our own mortality. After passing several shops and old colonial buildings, we reached the Old North Church, where one lamp was lit to warn of a British attack on ground, and two lamps were lit to warn of a naval assault. I looked in the gift shop then went back to it so I could get some water from the vending machine for which I bought a homemade cherry lollipop, a blue and white candy cane stick, and while I was at it, a pocket owl as a souvenir. Then I bought bottled water from the vending machine before we went on a guided tour of the church.

We went into the foyer through a side door up a steep wooden staircase into a room then up another steep wooden staircase into the bell room. Our tour-guide, a short, dark-haired young woman, led our group back down the stairs and through an underground charnel room, explaining that parishioners wanted to be buried where they worshipped, before the city of Boston cracked down on it, proving to me that religious freedom is not absolute and does not cover practices that are harmful to the welfare of others.

We went through a door into low-ceilinged charnel halls one containing the tomb of a British general when the British seized the church. It twisted and turned every so often until we made it outside and the tour was over.

After the tour was over we saw the churches Garden of Assisi. Then we left through the back way and saw a giant statue of Paul Revere. We walked farther along and saw the house of Paul Revere before we went to a seafood restaurant, where I got a shrimp roll and some lemon tea. We ate lunch by a fountain where Mom shared with me some lobster from her sandwich and then we took a taxi back to the hotel, got our stuff, and drove to New Hampshire.

            We passed peaceful country road, coming across a bearded man sitting on his front lawn wearing only shorts and then we reached our house, a quaint little cottage next to the lake. We went a few houses down where I saw my grandmother, Uncle Andy, Aunt Marge, Uncle Kurt, Aunt Barb, and my little cousins, Kyley and Hunter. After dinner Uncle Andy and Aunt Marge drove me back to our cabin and my mom and Dave came back a while later.

The next day we went to see a waterfall and Castle in the Clouds, the mansion of Thomas Gustave Plant, who made his fortune in the steel industry. After dinner tonight we went out for ice cream. I got raspberry sorbet with gummie bears. We looked at the docks, which had several boats and one great yacht. We looked in a shop selling shirts before we went back to our cabin.

The next day I woke up and later I went down to the beach where I kayaked while taking pictures with my newly charged camera. I picked out several reeds, which I took to our cabin and laid them out to dry and then give them to people as gifts. For dinner we went to a seafood restaurant where I drank a Samuel Adams Summer and ordered some pan seared swordfish. After dinner, my mom, Dave, Uncle Andy, Aunt Marge, and I drove down to an ice cream shop where I ordered a two scoop Denali Chocolate Moose Tracks, which turned out to be much bigger than I expected.

The next day Mom and I went to the Libby Museum and then had lunch with my grandmom, Uncle Kurt, Aunt Barb, Kyley and Hunter. I ate a delicious grilled cheese sandwich with bacon and then Mom and I explored the town. After we looked in a jewelry store, I went to the bookstore where I had been hoping to go. I saw one book that really interested me called In the Shadows of the Buddha about an American Buddhist pilgrim in Tibet who saw the atrocities the Chinese are committing and went to great personal risk to smuggle out evidence.

            That night I had dinner over at Uncle Kurt’s, Aunt Barb’s, Kyley’s, Hunter’s, and Nannies cabin. After dinner Kyley and I drew on this portable sketch board she owned which you can erase when you’re done and start over. That night I felt I really bonded with her.

The next day Mom, Dave, and I climbed Mt. Washington. When we got to the top we took the train down and then went back to our cabin. That night we ate out at the town. I had a hamburger, which was rather big with some fries.

On the last day Mom, Dave, Uncle Kurt, Aunt Barb, Kyley, Hunter, and I ate steak Florentine, mangoes, potatoes, and tomatoes. The next day we dropped Cam and Graham off at an airport at Manchester, New Hampshire, then Mom, Dave, and I flew to Memphis, then to Kansas City. When I got home I called Hen House and found out I work on Monday from 7 to 10.

A Break with the Newly Settled Nest

As the month of September started I went to Philadelphia over Labor Day weekend to see my family. I meet my newborn cousin Hunter and went to his baptismal ceremony. During my spare time I read a little bit of Ray Bradbury's book Dandelion Wine. I saw my grandmother's a new retirement home and she gave me a book of pictures from when I was a year old.