Autism Walk 2010
by Steve West on November 6, 2010

We go on this walk annually and have seen it grow tremendously over the last seven years. What began for us as a walk to support a local fundraising group has evolved into a national campaign spearheaded by the Autism Speaks organization. It hasn't all been good but the majority of changes have been welcome. The event for Washington, DC takes place on the National Mall with the walk beginning near the Capitol building, past the Washington Monument, until reaching the half-way point at the Lincoln Memorial. Then the route is reversed to end near the Capitol again.
It's funny that it's still a little disorganized after doing it for a few years now. The speaker at the assembled stage area was shouting into the microphone, "Start Walking! Head for the monument!" In a city full of monuments, that's a pretty vague statement. Near the end of the walk was a group of young women clapping and cheering for the last leg of the walk. I would have preferred them to be cheering us upon our arrival when it was still below 50 degrees and 8:00 in the morning. "Thanks for getting your tired ass out of bed and getting here!" That would have been welcome. Olivia couldn't do the entire walk (it's supposedly a 5K thing) so we took a shortcut and did a couple rounds on the Carousel on the Mall. It actually sports that semi-pretentious name. Like it's somehow different, nay better, than all those pretender carousels. At $5.00 a round, you think it'd come with a case of scotch or a six-pack of Billy Beer.
Plenty of our friends joined us there (about twenty) and it was, of course, a very heart-warming experience for us. A Redskin or two were there leading us in pre-walk calisthenics (which I ignored), somebody semi-famous sang the National Anthem, I think I recognized a few professional hockey players from the Capitals, and the local goofy weather guy was there. A local soul singer sang a song that he wrote after his child was diagnosed with autism. And after turning in all the donations we had garnered from friends and family, we got some free walk shirts. The Walk has been very successful as far as fund raising is concerned. I believe the total for this year is over $600,000.00 for this one walk. It happens in about 80 cities across the country and I can't even guess what that accumulates in dollars but I can tell you what it means to me individually.
Brenda and I are not alone. What an amazing, eclectic sample of individuals we saw. One in every hundred families now has an autistic child. The numbers are rising. I recognize some of the groups now by name: Patrick's Team; Nelson's Crew; Team Christine; and of course Olivia Can (our team). We've created a scrapbook filled with photos of which these Walk pictures are a part. Olivia can't appreciate fully what these pictures represent but Brenda and I do. I can't wait until the day Olivia and I wistfully page through this album and she can sense a small measure of how much she was, and still is, loved.
Web Junkie
Steve West scours the Web searching for interest or absurdity and then shakes his head ruefully when he finds it. Read more »

Creepy Halloween Lodgings
These creepy places to stay during a Halloween vacation may be too late to consider this year but they're not going anywhere soon so keep them in mind for the future. You can't stay in all of these places but for those that you can, there's that extra layer of creepiness. The Haunted Hull House in Chicago. Go »
Sages And Fools
UOAS has been wonderfully absent from the grocery for the last month. Paradise only lasts so long, however. UOAS: (Eyeing the 3 lbs of sirloins on sweet sale) That's a lot of steaks, having a barbecue? Go »
Double Talk with a Forked Tongue
I've decided that from now on, I'm going to answer every question like a presidential candidate. Friend (voter): "Steve, what are you gonna do this weekend?" Me (blahblahblah): "That's a great question and an important one. Go »
Dumb Celebrity Quotes
Anyone can say something stupid every once in a while, of course. But the celebrities featured on this website sure seem to make a habit of it. Only one quote per customer but they probably make up the usual suspects in the dumb quote hall of shame. Go »
The Five Stages Of Patriots Grief
The Giants are the greatest 10-6 team of all time! Go »