Don’t Believe Everything You See
At times our mind can play tricks on us, especially in regards to what we see, causing us to be surprised, startled or confused. Lights, colors, motion and even sound can create images inside our head that may not represent reality in the least. Just the other day I had one of those moments.
Now before I go on, I want to assure you that I generally see quite clearly. Although I’m getting older by the day, I rely only on the lightest level of non-prescription reading glasses available. As far as seeing distant objects across the room or across the field, I see quite well thank you very much.
So, on that particular day I had been sitting in our living room doing some reading in the afternoon, enjoying my coffee and some downtime. With our small wraparound porch, we are blessed with windows facing in every direction, so when you look out it’s not uncommon to see all manner of blue jays, mockingbirds, robins, cardinals and many varieties of smaller birds. If you venture away from the house a bit, you may catch some wood ducks swimming in the swampy area of our woods depending on the time of year. Across the field at our pond, you might spot the occasional blue heron and sometimes Canadian geese that have stopped for a visit. So, seeing all these birds is not that strange, quite commonplace I’d say, and a pleasant part of our existence living in the country.
While absorbed in my reading, as I mentioned before, something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. Sitting in my chair, I turned a bit to my left and there in the distance, not far from the end of our front sidewalk, proudly stood a Canadian goose. It seemed odd to me, since we generally don’t see them alone. But as quickly as the goose caught my attention, it parted ways from my consciousness. In an instant, the goose split in two. Its head and neck took flight, separating altogether from its large, round body and flitted away. I rubbed my eyes and did a double-take of my senses. It was then that I quickly came to reality–my “goose” had been a figment of my imagination. My mind had put together snapshots from my past and made me believe the large bird was right there before my eyes. Was I losing it or what?
So, what made me think I saw a goose? Well, there on the ground, sitting proudly in the grass with no head, no neck and no legs or feet, was my son’s worn-grey basketball. Atop the basketball had been, for a brief moment, a proud, tall, skinny mockingbird. Thus was my experience. My mind had played a hilarious trick on me, but I wasn’t laughing. In that brief moment, when I thought the goose had miraculously separated itself from its body, the neck and head, also known as a mockingbird, spread its wings and took flight from its plump, round body, typically referred to as a basketball.
I shook my head, chuckled to myself and headed to the kitchen for another cup of coffee to bring me out of my afternoon, nap-like stupor.
And just in case you’re wondering, no, I wasn’t reading about geese.
Don’t believe everything you see, especially while drowsy.