John and Maripat in Texas, 2013
know how to use it yourself?” I thought that was
a pretty tame response considering the circumstances. The town was grateful to John and Julian because the storm was such a disaster that
the road crew was overwhelmed and probably
wouldn’t have gotten to the street for days.
Zoom: What is a typical day like for you? Is it all
book signings and autism conferences?
Maripat: When we aren’t travelling, my alarm
clock is John saying, “Feed Me?” I’m not a morning person (you know what that’s a euphemism
for), so sometimes I decline. But usually, I do get
up and cook something for him before he leaves
for work.
Then the deliciousness of being retired starts. I
have breakfast on the deck and listen to the birds
sing and watch them feed. It’s quite the show.
If the garden’s in full swing, I walk through the
woods to it and utilize all of my marketing skills
to persuade the bad bugs to scram since every-
thing’s organic. If they don’t comply, I squish
them. I’m a vegetarian, but I do squish bugs. Last
year, becoming a Master Gardener showed me
how little I know even though I’ve been growing vegetables for decades. I’m also building out
the perennial beds around the house because I’m
happiest when my fingers are in the dirt.
I hike for an hour with the dogs nearly every day,
do yoga, meditate, work on the book (Maripat is
in the process of writing her story, a book we at Zoom
cannot wait to read!), sometimes also the blog, and
generally run around stoking the appliances. We
have two in college living back at home right
now, so the housekeeping has picked right up.
All of this is pretty welcome after thirty-four
years in publishing, advertising and broadcasting. The last dozen years were in TV sales management, which is the perfect job for executive
burnout. I never, ever, miss that business.
Zoom Autism Through Many Lenses
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