I have always loved Autumn. As a child, I always loved returning to school – even when I “hated” school the fact that I would see my friends, be out of my house and be back in a regular routine in a place where I could excel if I chose to do so was comforting. I love the way the air smells, the colors, the migrating birds flocking overhead, the crisp crunch of leaves underfoot. I enjoy the turning from verdant, lush summer to cooler weather as a respite from the sometimes crushing rush of the fleeting warm weather. No more weeding, mowing, or trimming for 4 or 5 months. Winter is a lovely time to read garden porn and plan next year’s garden. The anticipation of spring tints the cold winter green.
This year, as the leaves fall, Timothy has been raking them up unprompted. This is A.Maze.Ing, given that there is very little Timothy does in the way of manual labor without much cajoling. In the summer Timothy hates being outside. He hates the sex crazed bugs crashing around, the female mosquitoes thirsting for blood, the pollen everywhere, the sounds of the neighbor kids screaming in the pool next door, the heat and brightness of the sun, the prickly feel of the grass, the sweat that trickles down his body. In the fall, all of that slips away. Timothy rakes the leaves into huge piles and, as long as they are not wet, buries himself under them. He only uses the leaves from the two giant Norway Maples in the front yard, where the dogs never make their stinky doggy messes that might contaminate a leaf. I showed him how to rake the leaves onto the big blue tarp and how to dump them on the compost pile when he was done, assuring him that there would always be leaves in our yard to pile up, and he has done just that for the last two weekends. Unprompted. For hours (and by that I mean two, which is still incredible).
I had a slew of meetings last week, most of which were unremarkable. One, however, was pretty darn good. Timothy and I went into the City to meet with the Support Staff. I am getting more comfortable with these meetings to discuss my son with approximately half the town. The Big News that came out of this meeting was that the SS feels Timothy can “titrate down” Greg. (The mysterious Greg was not present, but he sent along several colorful graphs & pie charts to show just how well Timothy has been doing) The other Big News was that Timothy had gotten the “most improved student” award for the semester. Awesome!!
Soccer season wraps up this weekend, which means I will not have to drive Sarah all over creation again until next summer. However… Sarah got a spot in the City’s holiday extravaganza, and is delighted beyond belief. For the next month, this will replace her billion soccer related things. January and it’s influx of garden catalogs cannot come soon enough. I am going to deny my little singing soccer sensation any more activities until February (when she wants to try out for the County Junior Idol again). I am so proud of her I could burst, but she is exhausting. Seriously, I have no idea how people with more than one “Normie” have time to breathe.
Aldo and I are limping along; literally in his case and figuratively for our relationship. He has come to accept, as much as one can, that he is truly disabled. He is still depressed, but things are getting better.
Everything is falling into place, and not a minute too soon.
3 Comments
October 30, 2009 at 3:29 pm
That’s great news all around! I, too, and a lover of fall. Every single bit of it–even the fall allergies (which are by far worse for my son and me than spring allergies) are worth it!
Blessings! \o/
October 30, 2009 at 8:54 pm
I totally see what you mean about us mirroring each other. At least we’re in good company, right?
November 3, 2009 at 9:04 am
The image of Timothy raking up the leaves with such dedication made me feel really good. It is so nice when things fall into place like that!