The Mind Works in Mysterious Ways

It wasn’t hard to guess what these birds were thinking yesterday. They were wishing me, politely I’m sure, somewhere far away. 🙂

At least it was sunny while I wandered around the nests admiring them. Cold, but sunny. Today we’re getting rain with a windchill below freezing. Yes, it is the month of May. The cats still wake me up to go get a fire going. I may have to bring the winter clothes back out of storage.

I recently took a friend to a free dental clinic in Machias. It happens annually and is run by the NYU College of Dentistry – this is a huge operation and includes check-ups, extractions, fillings, and a special group devoted to children. They travel to a variety of locations every year. I was very impressed.

The waiting area was big and dozens of people were either nervously anticipating their turn or casually prepared to transport the patients back home. I had some interesting conversations with a number of them. Two stand out.

The first started innocently enough and then went quickly weird.

• Woman: Oh you’re from that Island. Everybody there is rich.
• Me: Um
• Woman: They own the Island you know. 
• Me: ?

I still think about that weeks later and can’t figure out her logic or conclusions.

The second continues to have me listening carefully to myself.

• Woman: Where are you from? I don’t recognize your accent.
• Me: Mostly I’m from the West Coast.
• Woman: No that’s not it. I know! You sound exactly like a friend of mine from Austria.
• Me:

I spent a number of exhausting hours last night helping my teenage friend study for a test on Ancient Greece. The mind is a bizarre labyrinth of strangeness. There is no reason why I can still come up with information about Agamemnon or Herodotus. Why do I know that Bucephalus is the name of Alexander’s horse?

After he left I told my brain that this information has served its purpose and that we need to do some housekeeping. I want to make room for more pertinent memories, such as where I left my phone.