Dr. Grandin; President Obama

Dr. Temple Grandin was extremely interesting during her presentation last night at the Boulder Bookstore. First, she gave an overview of the first chapter of her newest book and also spoke of being autistic and "thinking in pictures." Then she fielded questions from the audience for about 45 minutes before thanking us for showing up and beginning to sign her book. The questions she was asked ranged from parents of autistic children asking how to break through to their child, to a woman whose horse bites when the girth is tightened, to dogs and cats with other behavioral problems. She was interesting, entertaining, and refreshingly blunt. I liked her a lot.

Yesterday we had a temperature from 19 to 61 degrees; today we might hit 50, but we have the winds to contend with - 25 to 35 mph winds, with up to 60 mph gusts. I'll be wearing my ear muffs when I walk the Irish kids later. The kits are having a ball in the bright sunshine, and Banichi has been playing tag with Big Red, one of the squirrels. When Red has had enough, he just charges Banichi, bowls him over, and heads for the peanuts... Then Banichi has to take time to wash and recover his aplomb. I saw a few crows and ravens while I was out walking earlier - the only 4-legged critters were dogs that were being walked by their people.

President Obama is flying to Denver today to sign the economic stimulus package - as soon as this was announced, I made plans to be there to witness this event; then it was announced that attendance was by invitation only... so there went that idea. I love the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, which is where the package will be signed into law about 12:40 (MST) this afternoon. President Obama and Vice President Biden are expected to take a tour of the solar panels that provide power to the Museum, as well as the internal power plant, prior to the signing ceremony. Ah, well, an historic event will take place again today and, not very surprisingly, I'll once again be absent.... Have a good week!