Sometimes we see, or maybe feel things, before they happen, it’s often just so subtle that we don’t notice. And sometimes, it isn’t. ___________
So we are driving through this 3,000 year old city of Moderai, just coming back from the sunset temple procession with the elephant, and, as usual, I have my head half stuck out the window (yes, like a dog) trying to take it all in.
The mash of people and vehicles, the colours, the smells.
Trying to “see” it all so I will remember. I MUST remember all of this as there is no possible way to record this brilliant mayhem other than with the mind’s eye!
So, we’re driving and I’m taking it in and my brain is wandering I guess, and I get this image of a completely white animal in my head, not triggered by anything I saw that I’m aware of. Just full random – white animal out of nowhere. And I’m thinking, “where the hell did that come from?”
A tiger, or horse, its not specific (or I don’t remember), but at that moment I can’t remember the name, for this, the condition of being born with no skin or hair pigment. I know it, of course, but it’s not there right now. Hello brain?? Its not a passing thought, its pretty entrenched and wants some attention.
I know the damn word.
Am I going senile? (I think this fairly often). So I start doing memory games with myself (head still half out the window), picturing all white animals and going through the alphabet to jog my memory. I do this (try each letter) a lot with people names, although it rarely seems to work as one of the things I am constiently horrible at is remembering names.
I know this bloody word!
Does it start with an “A”. I think it does, go with your gut on that cuz its usually right. Agnostic? No. Absinthe (get THAT out of my head), Argyle… No, itits and animal or nature word dummy! Arggh, now I’m overthinking and it will never come to me in this state. And now I’m also thinking I’m on the wrong letter, because that happens a lot with this memory game as the sub-conscious intentionally throws you off course.
I let it go and drift off (something shiny catches my eye) and a few seconds later “albino” just drifts into my mind, like it was always there (which it was, just in shadows and making me work for it). Duh! That was a lot of work for a word I definitely know and an image that has no relevance to, well, anything right now.
That whole exercise was probably 10 or 15 seconds. Memory game complete, back to taking it all in.
Senility anxiety briefly abated!
Round the corner on another street, cars, bikes, tuk tuks zooming everywhere , and flowers, lots of flowers and something burning, and piles of coconuts. And, as we swerve to the left in a corner, there, standing two feet in front of me in a door step with her small child in hand is… an albino Indian women. with striking blonde/orange hair. Well… figure that!
I gawk (rude!), 2 seconds later she is out of view. I think she is the first albino person I’ve seen in at least 15 years. I’m sure she gets stared at a lot, “sorry”, but that wasn’t why I did.
Believing that there is no such thing as coincidence, that was just weird, but not without some reason.
A glitch in the Matrix, or just… India?