On an elven river

Peace

Shopping trip

Today I went Christmas shopping on State Street ..like I do every year. I duck into Morninglory's and get CD’s and DVD’s for everyone (I’m so predictable) ..then over to Chaucer’s, where I pick up a book titled ‘Little Prince’ for Karla. Back out on the street, a woman is passing out business cards that say: ‘Visionary ..Specializing in Seeing Possibilities’ ..I guess that means she’s a ‘Life Coach’. I walk out on the wharf to watch the sunset ..they tell me that the sun is farthest away from the equator these days (I don’t even want to try and remember what that means) ..to me, it looks like a small drop of orange water slowly sinking into the Pacific Ocean.

Mountain view

While Laura and Karla put tile in their kitchen .. Andy (the dog) and I went for a BIG walk. We raced up the stone steps of the hiking trail ..passed Brooks College ..and Franceschi park ..Andy knows the way now. We stopped and greeted each of my friends growing in the botanical garden. Then we swooped around the mountaintop ..got a 360 degree view of the mountains and ocean ..and slipped down the backside trail underneath giant Oak trees ..into a place I like to call ‘Middle Earth’. Sometimes when I go there ..I recite ‘The Jabberwocky’ ..from ‘Alice in Wonderland’ ..as loudly as I can. It helps me relieve the tension of too much rational thinking. The other day I taught Karla, my thirteen year old Goddaughter from Mexico, the words to ‘Fish Cheer’ ..by ‘Country Joe and the Fish’ ..so now we sing that as loudly as we can. Although it’s an anti-war song from another era ..Karla likes it because it sounds goofy. However, the other day while she was reading the Spanish newspaper ‘La Opinion’ ..she looked up at me and said: "They really do send them home in a box".

Karla and Andy

Karla and I made Christmas cards today .. she did the drawings, I did the photomanips ..then she did a remarkable job of putting it all together. Next we cut Andy loose on the athletic fields to chase birds (he never catches any). Karla rides her bike everywhere we go ..she says her favorite subject at school is PE ..and I believe it. This evening, Laura, Karla and I go to Rose’s Cafe for dinner ..and, against Laura’s advice, I order albondigas soup ..it’s not their best dish, but it felt warm. Back at the house, abuelito comes by and drops off another portable basketball net. However, there’s no room for it in the driveway. Not a problem, he says: “When I was a kid, we played in the dirt” ..so we set it up in the back lot.

Sensory synesthesia

Around the end of it’s broadcast day, my brain starts mis-directing information from my senses ..and begins sending sound waves to my visual centers. Suddenly voices around me are glowing like sunshine ..music illuminates the room with shimmering hues of magenta and indigo ..I go outside where I ‘see’ a ‘birdsong’ spin around my head like a twirling dervish ..a dog barks in secret code ..and the swoosh of nearby traffic reaches my deck like waves crashing on the beach.

Note:Sensory synesthesia is a real experience shared by everyone ..it is a necessary part of reading comprehension. If you are interested in seeing another post on the subject, click here ~>Synesthesia

Road test

Whoaaaa ..I’m at the neuro lab where they have been injecting me full of mind-altering substances ..shooting burning rays of light into my eyes ..and recording my brain waves. Then, just when I’m starting to get comfortable, a lab technician, in a long white coat, opens the door, switches on the light and says “we’re through ..you’re free ..bye ..bye..” I stumble out into blinding sunlight ..magnolia blossoms loom up ..giant humming birds zoom by ..and my daydreams get mixed with the daylight. I ignore the doctor’s advice and drive myself home. About a quarter of the way there, the steering wheel swells up like a balloon and moves off-center ..the gearshift turns into licorice and stretches out of shape ..even the knob turns into styrofoam ..outside, white lines and road signs streak by like stars in hyperspace ..up ahead, the road disappears into a tiny black hole.

Eye test

I didn’t pass my eye exam today ..each letter on the chart kept changing like flashcards ..a ‘G’ became a ‘Q’ ..then a ‘C’ ..then a ‘D’ ..and I didn’t know which one to choose. So I decide to blurt out the first letter I see before it turns into another one. The doctor says I should have 20/20 vision in that eye ..something else must be wrong ..then he asks me if I’m trying as hard as I can ..like I’m some kind of test taking slacker. He sends me to the neurologist who tells me I have a ‘transmission gap’ between my eyes and brain where information gets lost ..and only part of the letter makes it through OK. When this happens, my brain has fewer clues to go by so it’s forced to do a more extensive memory search and present me with a larger list of possible candidates ..flashing them one-by-one inside my head. Fortunately this problem is confined to eye charts because, in the real world, I see letters in the context of words ..which gives my brain a lot more information to go by ..narrowing down the search considerably ..and helping me recognize letters fast enough to read fluently ..more or less ..I guess.

Rambling on

Andy chased a deer yesterday ..probably thought it was a really big dog or something ..Karla saw it, I didn’t ..maybe we’ll climb the steps to the top of Francesshi again today ..keep my hiking legs in shape. Laura comes home from work ..talks to clients on the phone ..sees contractors ..consults drawings ..gives instructions ..sends Karla on errands ..then, almost like magic ..dinner is served. Afterwards, while she is making more phone calls ..I browse the Internet ..google lyrics to a song Karla likes ..turns out to be by Akon and Snopp Dogg ..I review Karla’s homework ..her English reader probes for inferences and predictions while she reads ..mental processes they didn’t used to teach ..a technique pioneered by a former colleague, Tom Trabasso, in 1996.