Cute but potentially deadly Aspie trait! LOL! :0)

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I was on a "playdate" at the mountain bike park yesterday with my brother. I actually started another thread about it as well. But my husband and I like to go there to bike and my brother and I like to hike there and yesterday he took me bouldering there. But whenever I am with my brother I am pretty much exclusively in little kid mode. Most of you know what that means, I, like many of you, have a very active child side that operates around the 4 to 12 year old level even though I am chronologically in my forties. I either bond with someone with an intellectual bond of an adult or with an emotional bond of a child but not with both simultaneously. So with my brother I have the bond of a child.

But he made a hilarious observation as we were in the park yesterday. As is typical when I am with him on a nature outing, every few minutes I am discovering something that fascinates me and that I want to know everything about. So it kind of goes something like this:

"Brother, what's this flower called? What kind of moss is this? Look at how the lichen attaches to the rock! Look at all the colors in the quartz! What do you call these kinds of rocks? Is that a turkey vulture or a black vulture? - That one over there that I can see clearly but you can barely make out under the tree line. Can I eat these wild carrots? What kind of woodpecker made those holes? Look at that pretty butterfly. What kind of berries are these? Can I eat them?...." and on and on it goes. And because of my personality I tend to be slow and deliberate about it taking my sweet time and savoring every moment.

Yesterday he told me that he could never take me to the desert because I would want to look and marvel at every little thing and he would never get me out of there and we would end up dying of exposure!

There are worse ways to die than curiosity, skibum.

This sounds like my son. He always gets distracted and falls behind and the reason why I don't like to take him out. Plus he runs off and then we leave when he doesn't listen to me.

At least you have an active curiosity!

Curiosity could, indeed, kill the Cat Aspie.

I, as a city boy, would not be able to answer any of those questions!

I'd have to bring an encyclopedia along LOL Or hope that my 4g has coverage where I am, so I could do the proper research which would answer your questions.

As for the desert, it would depend upon the nature of the area. There are some parts of deserts which are truly barren--only sand and scorpions for the most part LOL. Other parts of deserts, though, are quite mullifluous in their variety.

I'm like that, but mostly with animals, and especially birds! I'm not even a proper "birdwatcher" who knows all the different species, but I love them as creatures, and if I'm talking with someone outdoors, and a bird I know the species of flies overhead, suddenly I'm a little kid going: "Oh look a beautiful wood pigeon!"

I grew up in the woods. One spring, my cousins and I had an interesting adventure. We went for a walk. We looked at the trees. And the rocks. And the leaves coming out. We looked at the tunnels bugs made under the bark. And we got EPICALLY LOST. We got in DEEP POOP. Don't kill the curiosity-- just train yourself to understand that, should you find yourself in a survival situation, you MUST curb it. Cultivate the ability to do that...

...and then, when it's not a survival situation, ENJOY YOUR CURIOSITY.

The fact that you know it could be deadly means you will probably do fine.

And, should you go hiking in the desert, carry extra water and warm clothing (in case night should catch you). And make sure someone who's not along knows where you will be hiking and when you expect to be back. Check out, and check back in. Then have fun.

League Girl-- Enjoy that trait in your son. Don't squash it.

Thank you for the encouraging replies. Yeah, I know what it feels like to be lost so I always hike or mountain bike with someone else especially one who knows the area. My husband and I were mountain biking in one park though with circular trails and very bad markings. We did get lost and wondered if we were going to spend the rest of our lives circling on our bikes. Funny thing we stopped to try to figure out a direction and the most magnificent barred owl flew right over us and perched on the tree in front of us. We stayed and admired him for about 15 minutes and right after that we found our way out. I have heard it said that if you are lost look for a bird and ask him to show you the way and he will.

And my brother will shuttle me along and get me moving if we are running out of time. So there are no real worries there. But I can certainly dwaddle and notice the little things especially when they are pretty. I would even like to think of it as a talent!

When you're lost, and near a highway, just listen for the sounds of cars.

Learning to use a compass properly is easy.

My son "always" got lost, even to and from school a few blocks away. if he didn't have a direction finding friend with him. He eventually replaced the friend with a small pocket compass (this was before GPS and cell phones) when he got a job delivering donuts and, to my knowledge, has never gotten lost since.

Those are both great suggestions. My husband is the king of GPS. It's great until your battery runs out or you don't have any reception. I would love to learn to use a compass. In fact I will get a little one and the next time Brother and I go on a nature outing I will have him teach me. In fact Brother told me once that he likes to look at that position of the sun and navigate that way. I should learn that too.

I have had a compass before and I understand the principle, I just need to practice because I sometimes get confused when I move and the needle keeps pointing back to north. But I should always have one and some are keychain sized and inexpensive so there is no reason not to have one. I love the one in my car but it's digital and it won't help me when I am not driving.