Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Did You See That?


Often when I am sitting quietly either on the computer or watching television and out of the corner of my eye a little shadow rushes from one place to another. Instantly I think it is a mouse.

Now occasionally a mouse finds its way into the house but I am fortunate that I do not have mice most of the time. What I actually saw was just a little trick of my eyes.

What can be a little more disturbing is to see a larger shadow and look up expecting to see a person standing next to me. It can be startling to think there is someone there when I am alone. What has happened is perhaps the sunlight being blocked by something or a car's headlights shining through the curtains for a brief moment.

We often "see" things that are not really there or things that are not what we originally perceive them to be.

I live in an area where we are blessed with a lot of wildlife. Snakes, ground squirrels, turkeys, raccoons, and deer can be seen at any time. Even the dogs and cats run loose and can be a problem for drivers.

A driver must keep a wary eye for any of these animals (and many others that decide to run across the road) to keep from hitting them with the car. And as I know from personal experience they might just decide to hit the side of the car too.

I watch carefully for deer. They are the biggest hazard here. They do not stop and look both ways before crossing a road. They just leap up from nowhere and bound out across the highway.

Off in the distance I might see an animal. I slow just a bit to prepare in case I need to stop. Is it a dog or a deer? I watch carefully. Soon I am close enough to make out just what it is. It is a mailbox! I guess the good news is that I did not hit it no matter what it is.

Or I will be driving along the highway when suddenly I pass a man standing beside the road. I wonder if he needs assistance. I look in the mirror to discover that he is actually a sign or a small tree beside the road.

Sometimes I wonder if I am losing my mind or if I am simply goofy. What sane person would see all these things? And in broad daylight too.

Yesterday I had to drive into town to pick up a few things. My son went with me since he had a few things he wanted to get too.

On the way home as I rounded a curve I looked up and was shocked to see two white elephants standing at the side of the road beyond the next curve.

As I drove closer I began to laugh and told my son that I had seen two white elephants. Of course he thought I was nuts.

What I was looking at were two cement mixing trucks parked by the side of the road. There is a new house going up there and they were waiting their turn to spill their loads.

I asked my son to please put me into a nice home.




8 comments:

  1. I do have that "ghost" business happen, too, while recognition catches up with perception.

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  2. Two white elephants! Oh that is funny! At least they trucks looked like white elephants to you and not pink polka dot ones!!!

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    1. It was a funny thing. Why I thought of elephants I cannot tell you because of course there are no elephants running around loose.

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  3. Emma, I've had similar peripheral vision glitches over the past few years and reported them to my eye doctor. No elephants yet, but he says it's probably pigment dispersion syndrome --iris granules sloughing off into the eyeball's aqueous humor. If it gets too bad, he'll send me to a specialist to clear the eye's natural drainage system by laser. Upshot is, best get it checked --it's treatable.

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    1. I never thought of that. It does not happen all the time but you have given me food for thought.

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  4. Thanks Emma for letting me know that the imaginary things I also see from time to time are not uncommon. And like Geo above commented, I also have had some vision "glitches" from time to time which an eye doctor recently diagnosed as "floaters" but nothing to be over-concerned about right now. And, I also laughed when reading the white elephant/cement mixer story.

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    1. I may never live down the elephants. I laughed so hard when I realized how strange my thoughts were.

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