"Outside! Let's go outside!"

For most of the last two weeks I've slept in a tent and woke to the sound of eagles feeding their young.

Summer in Alaska.

It's why we live here. What gets us through the short frozen days of February, the memory of the light on the mountains at midnight and black and white turning into every shade of green.

We pitched our tents at Cuzuncle David's property in Seward, so we weren't really roughing it but the only cars were ours and there was nowhere we needed to go. From his place we can walk up into the mountains or down to the beach. We can bushwhack through Alders and Devil's Club taller than I can reach. There's a tractor to climb on, a porch to climb under and a dog door to climb through. There are  stones and sticks galore under feet and snow capped mountains in the distance.

And yes, bald eagles.

A mama and papa with one or two babies in their hidden nest in the trees, who, like us, have decided that Cuzuncle David's property is the place to be. We watched them fly in and out of the woods bringing their prey home to their babies and when they weren't hunting they sat atop trees and watched the world from above. Yesterday, I held up David's binoculars to study one of the eagles only to discover he or she was studying me. Or us, as we listened to music and packed up the truck. In between songs the eagle looked away, only to turn back towards us as the music continued.

Our little slice of quiet heaven, away from the competitive world of child-rearing within the structures of what's normal and whats not, was a disruption to theirs.

"What are those creatures doing?" they must have wondered as we sat around the stone fire pit drinking beers, making smores, and telling stories.

Refueling.

So we can return to the everyday aspect of home and embrace the details that construct our lives, with a little more air and light.

I have yet to google Asperger's or Autism Spectrum Disorder. 

Not yet.

I haven't rushed to the bookstore or emailed experts in the field.

Not yet.

It's summer in Alaska. A fleeting flurry of vegetation and warmth and I don't want to miss it.

I want to witness wildflowers, ferns, seaweed, moss through my children's hands so I can discover this tactile world all over again.

"Side, side, side," a mosquito-bitten Olive says now as she stands at the door with her shoes in her hand.

"Outside! Let's go outside!" I say.

And Elias is Elias outside.

Not a former micro-preemie with four file boxes of medical notes and a daunting list of goals on his Individualized Educational Plan. Not a legally blind boy with Cerebral palsy who may also experience autism.

He's just a boy in the woods, trying to lift his little leg over a fallen tree, as an eagle calls.

"Woods! Woods! We're in the woods!" he says, his mantra these days. 

Yes, yes we are.

Comments

[Noel Dennehy]

Oh what wonderful days to soak up and to reboot those batteries. Enjoy every minute!!

[Tabatha]

Lovely.

[Noel Dennehy]

I know you don't want to deal with it yet but before I forget- with my age you have to write it down NOW for it will be gone in a minute- a great book about aspergers is Craig Kendall's The Asperger's Syndrome Survival Guide. I have subscribed to his newsletter which is free. He is a father with an asperger child. I have been taking care of an asperger boy for 4 years now and I have seen such progress- from not being able to look you in the eyes to being able to. But it has gotten better the older he has become and with the constant work. It is just nice to know WHY he does certain things. OK- enough- go back to the wilderness. XOX

[Christy]

Thanks for the reference Noel--I will add it to my list! And thank you Tabatha for your kind word:)

[DiVaughn]

There's no rush to Google just yet Christy. Here's what you need to know. Asperger's = highly intelligent. So there. :p~ Everything else you can learn after school starts. :)

[Karolyn]

Ironically, I checked your blog right before I paid a medical bill for my daughter (hello, Dr. Freud). Thank you for the virtual deep breath of fresh air, the breathtaking beauty of an Alaskan summer and the reminder that real life is OUTSIDE.