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Fountains of Life (14)
jmcl
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 261 W: 4 N: 204]](http://i1.treklens.com/misc/g-n-g.gif) (656) | Fountains of Life
Alberta Falls
Glacier Gorge Trail
Rocky Mountain National Park
“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountain is going home; that wildness is necessity; that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life.”
~John Muir
Yesterday Andrew and I walked to Alberta Falls .. To say we took our time is not quite adequate .. We did the "not quite a mile" to the falls in a brisk two hours .. I think we sat by every tree and stream on the way.
By the time we arrived it was 10:30 and the light was getting harsh ..
Not that one can't find joy in harsher light .. I tried a number of treatments to deal with the light and this was my best answer to it.
In Andrew's hands is an old water bottle he was using to "stim" (self stimulating behavior) .. Andrew always almost brings a "stim" with him .. something to run back and forth in his hands to let loose his compulsive fidgeting energy and calm himself with in nervous times (like meeting other hikers) .. His favorite thing to do with his "stim" is to cover it in tree sap. We end up smelling like a car air freshener by the time we reach the car.
When Andrew was younger we had met many therapists and parents that would tell us to not allow him to "stim" so he would appear more "normal" .. To their defense most of their children were much less severe than Andrew .. and perhaps "conformation" would be more important then. Children with mild autism present their own parenting challenges .. and face life challenges .. that are far different than Andrew but in many cases still very difficult.
I remember one day when I met a psychiatrist who immediately impressed me .. he proposed that Andrew's body was telling him to "stim" .. it met a natural need for release and sensation .. was it really necessary to make his life more difficult so that he could conform to our world .. shouldn't our world at least come a small way towards him,
I wanted to share this place today after our walk. We had a wonderful morning. It is one of my favorite places in the park. It is where it where I asked my wife to marry me sixteen years ago .. |
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| Altered Image #1
jmcl
(656)
Corel Paintshop ProX
Edited by:LCannon
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 367 W: 169 N: 390]](http://i1.treklens.com/misc/g-g-g.gif) (2319) |
| Perhaps I overdid the brightening a little, it took away some of the shadows I enjoyed so much, but I can see his face more clearly. I used the fill flash tool, then selected just his face with the magic wand and created a new adjustment layer and brightened it, merged it into one again, then used the clarify tool. I still like the shadows in the original better and the trees look kind of weird in my version, but I did enjoy seeing the expression on Andrew's face very much. |
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