Ordovician observationist

My son, Nathan, wrote this to his son, Nico, my first grandchild. . It tells you a lot about both of them. (Photo: Jurrasic Coas, Dorset, UK)

Last Sunday, at a neighbor's easter egg hunt, I noticed my son Nico squatting in the planted bit of dirt between their house and a walkway to their front door. This, while the other 10 kids were running around the yard chasing... something. They were playing, yelling, etc... I was concerned about my boy, sitting there by himself in such an odd place, so I went over to see what was up. I noticed he was softly stroking a small, nascent plant, only a few inches tall. I asked him what he was doing. He said, "This is a fern, it goes back to the dinosaur age." It was only then that I saw that it was indeed a baby fern, barely recognizable as such, with its small arms starting to uncurl. To him, it was a physical touchstone to a world we can scarcely imagine, and he was enraptured by it. He was absolutely right to be so, and I was thankful that he took me to that space. Ferns, sharks, molusks and other ancient creatures, have, as a species, made a couple of spins around our Milky Way galaxy, a single one of which takes about 250 million years.

This from a boy who gets quite excited when I confuse animals that existed in the Ordovician period with those from the Devonian (Do you know when Jaekelopterus existed? He does. And he can pronounce it correctly).

Nico was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. He still has trouble propelling himself in a swing, and he's no prodigy with a baseball bat, and, yes, he sometimes acts, completely unlike his father, 'weird'. But his mind is already racing to the far corners of our universe. I only hope that as his father that I can be a worthy guide.

Nico-isms

It isn't every grandparent who is lucky enough to have a grandchild with Asperger's Syndrome. Nico does, though, and life with him is full of wonderful moments. It seems his experience of life is very literal,and he lives in the moment in a way Zen Buddhists strive for. And he has a wicked sense of humor.

Just want to share a couple of Nico-isms here. While he was with me this summer, a friend came for coffee. She chatted politely with Nico, then, weather being an important topic in England, asked him what the weather was like in North Carolina. He thought for a minute and then he said, "I don't know. I'm not there."

We went up in the London Eye the Thurday before we were to leave on the following Wednesday. Afterwards, we had lunch and went to the Aquarium. Both were wonderful experiences, and we went home tired and happy. Nico ran up to my study to play his favorite game, Plants vs. Zombies, which was maybe more important then our visit to London.. He shouted down to me that my computer was gone. I ran upstairs, and sure enough, it was not there, nor was the wallet I keep for US credit cards, driver's license, and passport. His was in there, too. We had a week end coming up, and only 3 days to get replacements. . Nico was outraged that this filthy, evil person had taken away his game, and vowed to give him his com-euppance when he found him. He was pretty mad. (Not as mad as me). There was a lot of tough talk, though.

That night,he asked me a lot about our alarm system, if the doors were locked, and whether robbers ever came back, and whether or not they killed people, but he finally went to sleep. With me.

We had to scurry around and get a power of attorney from his mother and his father, plus permission for me to get his passport, birth certificates, etc. On Tuesday morning everything was in place. Nico and I took the train to London to go to the US Embassy. As soon as we got to the train station, I could see he needed to go to the bathroom. No toilets in the station, nor on the train. We had to be at the embassy by 11:30 AM, and had nearly an hour's travel time to get there. "Don't worry, Grandma, he says, " I can do it." This required a lot of jumping up and down and swinging around the poles in the middle of the car. We arrive at Waterloo. You can go now, Nico. Don't have to, Grandma.

Taxi to the Embassy. Are admitted pretty quickly, and there are nice clean toilets. Nope. Don't have to. I am filling out papework a couple of inches thick while he plays with a some boys in the play area. I turn in the papers and wait for them to be processed. Nico comes to ask if he can get some juice from the machine. I smell something. I say, Nico, shall we go to the toilet now? "Nope. Don't have to.:" I insist, he resists. I insist vehemently, he resists vehemently. I bark at him, take him by the arm, put on a mean face, and we march to the women's. I cannot go in the women's, he says, and tries to refuse, but I am bigger than he is and drag him in there, take off his underwear, wash it out, make him go "commando"

As we are walking back out, he says, with a stunned expression, "Grandma, you are treating me like I am your CHILD!!!"

Back in the waiting area, Nico starts to play with a boy about 3 years old. He is a bit of a wild child, and Nico winds him up a little more, so I invite the little one to sit down and read Nico's train book with me. Nico looks at me with utter outrage and says, "Grandma, you are treating him like he is ME."

Yuba River Photos by David

DML_Yuba_Rocks_Water-9.jpg | David Lovere.

Wedding Anniversary, June 24, 2007

Before Lunch Pimm's
The Pimm's is generously served by smiling servers, along with delicious hors d'oeuvres like roasted red pepper and aubergine on crispy little toasts, refreshing salad served on a lettuce leaf, and tiny sausage rolls. Everything is delicious. It is our first course, so everyone gets to talk to everyon else.









Gerard, Ronni, and Lily just got back from Spain last night at midnight. They are tired, but came back especially to bJue at the party.













Julie, Trevor, Alex and Jessie are here from New Zealand, staying with Rachel and Michael.

Dad and Carolyn, Munstead

Caught in the Act~


















Mark home from the bacon hunting.