Travelogue cont...

DAY TWO – Under Construction Use Alternate Route

It looks like we are heading into a construction zone. It seems like those things come in cycles. You can go long stretches without ever having so much as a bump in the road, then next thing you know wham, construction zone!

Here come the thoughts . . .

Will this mean delays, congestion, bumps? 

Flags are waving everywhere. Warning! OCD tics ahead. 

I wonder what these will be?

Will they affect the landscape and our ability to see the world around us?

Will it grind our trip to a halt, or simply minimize our speed for a while?

OCD tics are like candy. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes, flavors, and prices. Some can be expensive, like the tic that requires that all power cords belonging to electrical gadgets have their ends cut off with a pair of scissors. Others are free, though not less annoying. Such as the tic that compels one while watching certain movies with the incessant need to clear one's throat repeatedly by making a loud guttural cough every ten seconds.

One day the tics are there, the next they are gone. Some tics can last for weeks, while others last for months. Some never go away, while others are gone as quickly as they came.

Over the past year one tic has come on the scene, and seems to be building to stay a while. I can’t do it justice by simply telling you about, this is one you just have to see for yourself! It's priceless!

As a simple introduction let me just say that Ethan MUST look through anything and everything that has printed words: hymnals, magazines, newspapers, sale ads, catalogs, books, homework, etc. While looking through these printed materials he is obsessed with the need to circle, fill in, cross out, dot, etc., every word that strikes a significant cord with him. NOTHING is immune from his review or his pen!

Though it can be quite annoying, as pretty much all but a few books or magazines we own are not marked up, it does give us a reflection about what is happening inside that little head of his. Here are some examples:

Obviously he loves Target, Barney the Dinosaur, and toys!

WARNING: Be Alert for ellipses (. . .) and colons because he must "connect the dots."

CAUTION: @ signs, and degree signs must be filled in solid.

Chocolate anyone? He circled these both for Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Hersheys chocolate bars. Notice how he located the letters of his name on the bottom left? How about rain?

Can you tell what his favorite days of school are? Yes, those days when there is no school! He may not be good at dotting his I's and crossing his T's but he is an expert at dotting his lower case i's, and crossing his capital i's and j's. 

For a kid who hates getting wet, when he is not supposed to. He LOVES it when it rains!

Is that chicken as in nuggets, or chicken as in Chicken Run? How about storm? Is that storm for rain, or storm as like in Macaulay Culkin's movie The Pagemaster? 

Check out his creative way of spelling his name on the lower right...

 Can you find the ellipses? The Land Before Time? More rain anybody? How about Ethan on the upper right?

This one is my personal favorite. No, Ethan is not a BYU Cougar fan. He is however a basketball fan (think Michael Jordan in Space Jam), and loves summer (think no school). 

His circling of Brigham, is in honor of his little brother! He's also mentioned everyday in Ethan's prayers, which are said exactly the same way, everyday:

". . . Bless that Brigham will get better, and that President Hinckley will get better too. And bless that I'll see Brigham again . . . And bless that Michael will make good choices so he can go on a mission . . ."

On second thought, never mind the alternate route.

I'll stick with this one. It's quite scenic.