Aaron’s Ball Python ‘Carl’ is getting ready to shed. You can tell he is going to shed because his eyes have turn cloudy with a bluish color. His skin coloring is also pale and not as brightly colored as usual.
Snakes shed as the grow. They shed their old skin and it’s replaced by new skin. Younger snakes will shed more often than older snakes because they are growing faster. We leave Carl alone at this time, because he can be nervous due to being unable to see.
And he’s running for President.
“How old do I think the earth is? You know what? I don’t have any idea. I know it’s pretty old, so it goes back a long, long way. I’m not sure anybody actually knows completely and absolutely how long, how old the earth is. I hear your mom was asking about evolution. You know, it’s a theory that’s out there. It’s got some gaps in it, but in Texas we teach both creationism and evolution in our public schools, because I figured you’re smart enough to figure out which one is right.”
I took a drive up to New Brunswick, Canada this weekend to pick up Aaron. Aaron spent a week with his uncle roughing it in a cabin in the woods. My nephew Nick also came along for the ride. It was a nice drive, beautiful country up in Maine and into Canada. Thought I’d post a few interesting things we saw along the way.
The twins turned 18 on the 28th of July. Yesterday, we celebrated their birthday with a small family gathering. Birthdays are always a bit emotional, both happy and sad at the same time. For typical kids, families celebrate the anniversary of the birth of a child and it is a time to marvel at how much a child has grown and developed. For the twins – and many other children with special needs – the birth date was not a happy time, but a very traumatic and scary time. When the twins were born three and a half months too soon we didn’t even know if they would live or die. At that time we were only thinking in black and white terms, would they live or die. Of course, few things in life are that simple. As we’ve learned, survival was only the first of many challenges we would face.
The 18th birthday is a big milestone for all kids; the boys are now technically/legally adults. We been busy with mountains of paperwork including guardianship, SSI, DDS, ACF to name just a few of the alphabet soup services we need to deal with. For kids with special needs, moving from children’s services into the adult system is a lot of work and red tape, and we have three kids transitioning at the same time. Anthony also turned 18 on May 1st. All three will remain in public school until their 22nd birthday, then we’ll have our next big transition. But these transitions are very different from typical kids; graduating from high school, going off to college, and hopefully becoming independent, productive adults. At least we will never have to worry about “empty nest” syndrome. The biggest worry for us and most parents of kids with disabilities is “what will happen to my child when I’m gone?” syndrome.
On the bright side, the twins are doing amazingly well in spite of their challenges. They are happy, healthy kids who love life. And really, what is more important than health and happiness?
Here is a little birthday party video:
Why Don’t Bees Go to Heaven?
by Ronnie Williams
It seems to me the species Homo sapiens,
carries the chutzpah gene.
To think they are the purpose of the universe
when they only just arrived on the scene.
What’s even worse, they bare a curse
of believing they’re the only form of life.
To never die, and go on living
somewhere high up in the sky.
So why don’t bees go to heaven?
and trees go to heaven?
amoeba, krill and fleas go to heaven?
It’s not surprisin’ that they’re not arisin’
’cause man created god.
this grain of sand upon an infinite beach
had been supporting life for trillions of spins
then along came humans, who started assumin’
that this was where it begins
so profoundly naïve, they began to believe
these primates were the only ones
to never die, and go on living
somewhere high up in the sky
so why don’t worms go to heaven?
and germs go to heaven?
spiders, snakes and sperms go to heaven?
its quite expected that they’re not resurrected
’cause man created god
if man created Zeus, and the god of The Sun
if man created Shiva, and the god of Abraham
from all of life, why should the only one saved
be the species worst behaved?
well, that’s because
that same species, Homo sapiens
carries the chutzpah gene
to think they are the purpose of the universe
when they only just arrived on the scene
what’s even worse, they bare a curse
of believing they’re the only form of life
to never die, and go on living
somewhere high up in the sky
so why don’t whales go to heaven?
and snails go to heaven?
orangutans and quail go to heaven?
they don’t think twice about paradise
because man created god
so why don’t bees go to heaven?
