mirages

Sometimes you have been fooled  by a familiar trickster, what you want to see. This mirage shakes how you look at the world in that you recognize so much of your awareness is colored by what you want to see.

There are studies that indicate a familiar object will mask another use of the object. We've all used unusual objects in an emergency.  An example used in today's NY Times quiz by Steven Pinker was a woman bludgeoned a man with a frozen leg of lamb which she promptly cooked and served to the investigating officers who were none the wiser.


I got 6 out of 10 on the quiz of psychological principles. I would have gotten 7 but hell somehow this computer moves in curious ways and all I am doing is running my finger across the touch pad.

Steven Pinker's quiz in NY Times

We had a hole in the gas tank of our car as we traveled out west the summer of 1975. My mother improvised. She saw a screw on the ground and cut a piece of leather from a shoe. The leather acted as a seal and the grooves of the screw held the screw in place. What my mother did was think outside the box. We drove from Arizona to Georgia with the screw in place.

What got me on this train of thought was my sister. She has schizophrenia and the medication only goes so far. Like all of us, she needs human interaction, hope, a purpose and optimism to really thrive. She has been doing well.

I got in a crunch with a doctor's visit. She went alone for the past two visits. To make a long story short and less sad, I realized it had been a big mistake when I went with her on her last appointment. Not one that can't be corrected.  Luckily, she goes to a great nurse practitioner and doctor. But that jolt of reality in that she is not doing as well as I thought.

Anyway, I usually wear rose colored glasses, at least I'll enjoy the trip.

The 567 Center on Cherry Street in downtown Macon.