Patrick Skywalker
Chapter 1: Take off/finding the L’Arche Toronto House
Today we went to Saint John Airport. We were to take 2 different planes: A Bombardier Dash to Halifax International Airport and from there in 2 hours we would take an Airbus jet to Pearson International Airport.
We went through security.
Then within minutes our plane to Halifax showed up, again a Bombardier Dash with one row per side, so Gray and I sat across the aisle from each other AND we had window seats.
Gray and I put our cell phones on Airplane Mode. Within minutes the engine started and we headed to the series of lines…then took off!
In just 45 minutes we landed at Halifax International Airport. Then we went through the gate, up an escalator to the other gate, then down another to browse at stores and have supper at Burger King, eating like a king and queen, as we had a 2 hour layover.
Then we went through security again, up an escalator, then to the gate, and within minutes our second plane showed up: An Airbus, the same kind John O’Donnell and I had taken to Toronto En Route to Atlanta 2012.
Later we boarded, and in no time we took off.
I looked at the En Route magazine that was in front of me…and put it in my backpack when we landed. We got off, and then we went through the gate to Pearson International Airport.
We went to the baggage claim, through 3 escalators and 2 moving walkways.
Before the alarm went off denoting the bags were on their way to the baggage carousel, I texted Mom and Stephanie, saying I made it there safely and was having fun. Then the baggage carousel started and we got our bags. Then we left, going up 2 escalators to catch the TTC Airport Rocket to Kipling Subway Station.
The name of that subway station makes me thing of Disney’s The Jungle Book and my Cubs years. Once there we got off the bus, gathered our bags, went down an escalator to the Subway station, and awaited the Subway.
Within minutes a subway arrived and we boarded. It took off.
We went to Greenwood Station and caught a bus that would take us to the L’Arche House we were supposed to stay in and got there…only to discover there was a change of plans, so instead of Greenwood House, we would stay at Gamble House, which had a piano!
So the house people called a Beck Taxi to take us to Gamble House, charging it to Greenwood House. Within minutes a green and orange Toyota cab showed up…and took us to the house. We settled and met the house people who were friendly.
Chapter 2: Symposium Day 1
We got up quite early, had breakfast, and then we freshened up.
Then we called a Beck Cab, and within minutes another orange and green Toyota cab showed up. The cab took us through the city and within minutes we came to the North Building of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
Then we went in, took a long escalator down to where the speeches would happen…and went to registration. We got our badges…then we browsed where the books and the copies of the Temple Grandin movie starring Romeo & Juliet’s Clare Danes as Temple, Home Alone, Home Alone 2, and Beetlejuice’s Catherine O’Hara as Temple’s Aunt Ann, and Julie Ormond as Temple’s Mother were all sold. I kept convincing Gray to get a copy, that way we would both have a copy.
Then we went to the first speech: Antecedent Manipulations: The Behaviour Analyst’s Crack Cocaine, by Dr. Merrill Winston, not only a brilliant expert on autism, but also a comedian who did a legit and entertaining rap, compared behaviors to movies, and finished of with a mixed up clip with The Blues Brothers cussing at the nun and getting slapped with the ruler with Aretha Franklin swearing in the restaurant scene.
Then Gray and I looked for a place to have lunch, so we went through the Skywalk, where my Grandmother and sisters used to go through En Route to a Blue Jays game when they had the players that helped them win the World Series in the early 90s. The last time Mom and I went through there we had found an A&W restaurant there, but due to recent construction, now it must have either moved or closed down. We went to the Toronto Tourism Office and we got some information, like maps and pamphlets that had info and pictures.
Then Gray and I went to a nearby Tim Horton’s and we each had kettle chips, me with a chicken burger and I forget what Gray had. Then we were supposed to attend a the next session in the same room as Dr. Winston, but the subject didn’t seem appealing, so we decided to do more exploring. We did go to the North Building.
We went through the CBC museum and it showed artifacts from old shows. For example there was a TV at an artifact that played the Mr. Dressup theme, which remained stuck in my head from that moment on.
Then we went through mall after mall, trying to find the P.A.T.H.
Then after more exploring we found the Royal York Hotel, took the P.A.T.H. from the Royal York to the Union Subway Station, discovering that this was under major construction. We took the Subway to Bloor/Yonge and transferred to the line, getting off at Broadview Station, and taking the #87 bus to Todmorden Street, then getting off and walking around the corner to our H.A.F.H. (Home Away From Home)
Then we relaxed and had supper with the Gamble House friends, and then we had a prayer service, then I played the piano, doing songs from our L’Arche Songbook which we had used the previous weekend in Halifax and songs from the Disney Movie Frozen. Then we settled down and headed to bed.
Chapter 3: Shopping/Aquarium/Tiago/Souvenir Day
Today we walked down Gamble to Pape Street. A bus picked us up and took us to Pape Station. From there we took the Subway to Bloor/Yonge and transferring and getting off at Union.
Then we tried successfully to find the Toronto Eaton Centre. There we went down an escalator and down the hall from this was HMV!
At HMV I bought School of Rock and Jumanji.
Then we went to the food court for lunch and I got the KFC Popcorn Chicken with Fries and an iced tea, while Gray got a pita.
Then we met Tiago at Ripley’s Aquarium, and boy were we in for some fun together!
First we met, then we registered, and then we got some tickets! We saw all kinds of sea and marine life! We saw some stingrays, sharks, and all kinds of fish!
There was a whole section about Disney & Pixar’s famous Finding Nemo with an aquarium with clownfish like Nemo and blue fish like the forgetful Dory who keeps singing Just Keep Swimming/Just Keep Swimming. Then Gray got me to touch a crab and if I did she would treat me to an ice cream…so I did!
Then after seeing all kinds of marine life we walked down streets to find the Real Sports store where they sold lots of Blue Jays, Maple Leafs, Raptors, and Marlies merchandise, and I bought a Raptors keychain. We walked down more streets…and saw a busker playing ragtime on an old Willis upright piano outside! I gave this busker 2 toonies.
Then we went to the North Building of the Convention Centre…as Temple Grandin was having a book signing…and as a bonus…if we were one of the first 100 customers to line up to get her book signed, which we were, we would get a free signed copy of her book The Autistic Brain! So we not only got a book signed and had our picture taken with her…but we got a free book! So now I have 2 copies: a hard cover copy…and a paperback signed by her! Gray took some pictures of the 2 of us and I told her I saw the movie, as last time I did not see the movie, but I saw the cases were there, and I found the sight of this appealing, so when Mom and I got back last time she showed me a PVR recording of the movie and I loved how she thinks in pictures and in the end gives a speech on autism in a convention centre, just like I see with Mom and now Gray!
Then we went to St. Lawrence Market and at a gift shop I bought a Blue Jays water bottle, as on seeing it I thought of Gram and thought she would be smiling in Heaven if I bought this.
That night Gray and I went to Lone Star Café for supper and I had Quesadillas with rice and vegetables with a Perrier. We went home, taking the Royal York P.A.T.H. to Union and getting off at Broadview, taking the same bus to the same street and arriving at the same house, remembering the way.
Chapter 4: Temple Grandin speech/pack up/take off
Posing with Temple Grandin
Today we took the Beck Taxi to the North Building, went down the escalator, and went to the theatre.
Today’s first speech was by Drs. Paula Kluth and Stephen Shore, called The 5 Myths of Autism. This lasted from 8:30am-10:00am.
Then Gray and I went up an escalator to Second Cup and each got a Strawberry Banana smoothie…then headed back to the theatre for the next speech.
The next speaker really doesn’t need introduction, like the MC said at this speech and the ones Mom and I attended in 2006 and 2010. This was writer and animal behaviorist, Clare Danes’ character, Dr. Temple Grandin! This was interesting as she compared her brain to normal people’s brains, and her comparisons of Airports and her Cattle Machines on farms which she herself had designed, as seen in the Temple Grandin movie. She talks how people like her were sensitive to sounds, colors, and other things. In the 2006 speech Mom and I had attended before I had moved into L’Arche Saint John, Temple mentioned that in school she was harassed, being called “Tape Recorder” because she was constantly repeating the same stuff over and over again.
Then Gray and I went to Boston Pizza and I ordered the 6” 4-topping pizza with Caesar Salad and Perrier.
Today’s third and final speech was by former U.S. Supreme Court Judge Helen E. Hoens, Moderator Jennifer Krummins, and Temple Grandin’s mother, Julie Ormond’s character from the movie, Ms. Eustacia Cutler. Here Cutler talked endlessly about her daughter Temple, using endless references to the movie and its concepts, and talked endlessly about Temple’s school years, like how Temple had hit someone with a book, injuring that person, and that person reported it to the school, and the school expelled Temple from that school, ordering her not to go back after New Year’s, and that they found a suitable school for autistics and disabled people on a farm with horses and cows, which gave Temple the idea of designing cattle moving devices, also shown in the Temple Grandin movie. Cutler also mentioned that most of the beef used in Burger King and McDonald’s burgers came from farms at which Temple Grandin had installed some of these brilliant devices.
Then we headed to the Union Station…only to discover my water bottle was left behind, so we went back and I said a prayer to St. Anthony, the Patron Saint of Lost and Founds, and went back to the North Building…and found it in the theatre where we had gone to the Temple Grandin speech.
The water bottle is safe!
Then take 2 on the way to Gamble House. We got back, packed up, signed a card, left a candle as a gift, relaxed, said goodbye to our Gamble House friends…and headed to Kipling Station, catching the Airport Rocket to Pearson Airport, and checking our bags. We went through security, went on 2 moving walkways, browsed at the stores, located our gate…and had supper and then Gray had a smoothie at Starbucks and I had a Frappuccino. Then we waited for the plane to show up, and we boarded. Within minutes we took off…and in 2 hours and 15 minutes we landed in Saint John, getting picked up by Jocelyn and grabbing our bags…and heading home, with New York Christmas 2014 to look forward to!