Today is Adventure Boy's 12th birthday, so I must brag about him a little.    

     Yesterday we went to the Como Zoo.  It is a “communist” sort of place…subsidized by taxpayers dollars and free entrance for all.  It will, no doubt, be given to a corporation to run some day, so that it can be “properly managed” for profit.  You may not be able to get in for free, but at least there will be a Starbucks there where you can get over-priced coffee.

     But for now, it is a delightful place for families of all income levels to go and enjoy a day of education and recreation in a place that makes you feel that you are part of a wonderful, caring community of people willing to pay taxes to uplift everyone alike and provide a place to exercise and develop those “core values” of family and community that the neocons and Bob Jones conservatives are always talking about.

     Oh, don’t worry, I’m sure when things like community zoos and museums and art institutes are gone, forcing children to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and the Lord’s Prayer will do exactly the same thing.

     Anyway, we were had seen the whole zoo, and were walking along, thinking about how when the ground dries out a little, we would bring picnic baskets and blankets and use the wide-open park spaces to play Frisbee and play on the play equipment that is scattered throughout the expansive Como Park…

     …when we happened to see another Eden Prairie family walking towards us.  Their son is one of Adventure Boy’s friends.  This kid is really sweet.  He has Aspberger’s Syndrome, so he requires some understanding, but he manages his symptoms very well, and is good at communicating his needs.

     Anyway, we stopped and talked to this family, and as the boys were visiting, the father mentioned to me that he will never forget the day that his son was being picked on by some boys, and Adventure Boy went over to them and gave them a thorough talking-to about it.  Evidently, that not only ended the matter at the time, but those children never picked on his kid ever again.

     I had never heard about this.  It just made me so proud.  You can’t imagine.

     Also today I read the prologue and first two chapters of Adventure Boy’s science fiction novel.  Oh. My. God.  My kid is a genius...a genius who cannot spell his way out of a wet paper bag if given a dictionary...but a genius none the less.

     The protagonist is a scientist who designes a colonization process, and is then shut out by the government...only learning years later that his plan and designs were implimented...when something goes horribly wrong and they need his help...naturally.  I'm on pins and needles to find out what happens next.

     Suffice it to say, that space travel in Adventure Boy's universe is VERY unsafe.