Picnic at the Lake

We met some new friends last weekend and had a picnic at Lake Monticello. It was really nice to meet some people our age with similar interests. They are not in similar life circumstances, meaning they don't have kids, they're not married, but they're in a committed relationship and they're both college educated adults, so I'll take it!

Miss E, we'll call her, was really great to talk with. She is aware of Sensory Processing Disorder and Autism Spectrum and applauded my efforts with Little D as well as my aspirations of working with families of Special Needs kids. She recommended books by Temple Grandin, who is an AMAZING woman living with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and is a healthy, successful individual. She's a PhD. She is an expert on animal behavior and has used her first-hand knowledge of sensory challenges associated with ASD to write books and other helpful and scholarly literature. You GO girl! Her life has also been made into an inspirational HBO movie starring Claire Danes.  More information about Temple Grandin can be found here.

Anyway, I'm posting a few pictures about our little lake excursion. It was a fairly warm day, not much of a breeze. Really nice weather for November, though, I'm not sure if that's just me or if that's this part of Arkansas too. Let's just say, to me, it's not Fall until the leaves are turning and it's consistently at least 50 or below. That's not the case here, but everyone is acting like it's really cold out. It isn't, but I digress.

Little D and Em loved the lake. They collected shells and Em just about walked right out into the water. She is fearless! We also heard some blood-curdling screeches from some very large Turkey Vultures and a Heron somewhere out there. I think they were snacking on some kind of carrion. Anyway, the lake is pretty. The kids had fun at the park and playing by the lake. It was a really great day. If I was doing a creative writing blog, I might use the picture of the dock as a writing prompt. It might go something like this:


"She stepped gingerly onto the weather-worn wooden dock, eyes never leaving her mark, the end of the pier."

Oooo... spooky. You do the rest. Happy Veteran's Day and writing, and all that.