Yin and Yang

I don't know what to think about an eight-year-old boy whose parents take him mountain climbing in the Himalayas. Is it really cool or just a projection of dad's (or mom's) ego? Don't kids need, like, oxygen? Says Aidan Gold:

"Boy, a morning at 17,000 feet is cold."

Yeah, I bet.

OTOH it is pretty cool that young Aidan can focus well for long periods on climbs because of Asperger Syndrome, a "high-functioning form of autism":

People with that trait tend to share an intensity of focus on specific goals or processes, and they typically don't do so well in social settings.

Nevertheless, Aidan is an accomplished storyteller and has also written stories and read them to audiences, even winning a story slam last winter at the Paramount Theatre.

He also has a passion for extremely complicated origami -- building moose, bald eagles and many other things.

In a time of loss, I think of unexpected gifts.