Wow! I'm with you on memory. A strange beast indeed. Some years ago I spent
an evening with my friend Ron. He and I were closedt of buddies through grades
7-12 in Calgary. After high school we went our separate ways and, as often
happens, we lost contact. On a whim I searched the web and found out he was
manager for a zoo in Orange County CA. I was going to a meeting in Santa
Barbara so we met up--50 years after our time together.Reminiscing about our
years together we were describing our often wild or bazarre adventures. We
remembered the same events--for the most part--but we often remembered
different parts of the event, different "views" or sometimes even conflicting
versions. Fun to sort out and a good demonstration of the mental dichotomy you
experienced. YITBOSJimSent from my Samsung device over Bell's LTE network.
-------- Original message --------
From: Willow Arune <walittleboots9@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: 29-05-2021 01:20 (GMT-05:00)
To: dsp-ea-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Memories
Out on my mobility scooter today, just a short trip to a convenience store not
too far away. Looking west, a dark cloud with rain coming down. In Red Deer,
one can see a storm coming from miles away. AS a former scout, I try to be
prepared so a rain cape and umbrella are always on the scooter. A West Coast
thing. Got to the store, the wind was up and the dark cloud closer. But it
veered to the south of my home and all I got were some tiny drops.But that
reminded me of another storm years ago. We had gone to a lake some miles to
the West of Edmonton for a nice day at the beach. In the west a storm was
coming straight for us. We hopped in the Mustang and raced the storm back to
the city. The trees were bending by the time we got to Spruce Grove. I
dropped my date off and was just pulling the garage core down when it hit with
a vengeance. Prairie storms can indeed be fearsome things.Funny things,
memories. What you remember and what you forget but need to remember. Which
brain cells make that determination? And why, when you really try hard to
remember something one day and cannot, do you remember it clearly a day or so
after with no effort at all. Do you, as do I, immediately remember why and
where you left something after searching for it for some time.A few days ago, I
had some chores to tend to around town. First stop, the post office nearby in
a large grocery store. Now, with both glasses any hearing aids, my ears are
rather crowded. Add a mask and things become worse. As I walked towards the
post office my mask, the last to be added, fell off. As I bent to pick it up,
one of the hearing aids fell off. I took both off and clearly remember setting
them down on a shelf. Heading back to the car, I remembered that and turned
around to quickly retrace my steps. No sign of them. I asked the store clerk
if anyone had turned them in. Nope. At $4000 or so for the pair, this was a
tragedy. Back to the car, I sat down in the drivers seat and looked down when
I felt a small bump on my chest. When I first got these silly things, they
kept falling out. In fact, the very first day I lost one in the snow. After
that, I searched about and found a safety device for hearing aids in China, on
Alibaba. On each end, a bit of rubber to hold onto left and right aids. On
the cord linking those, a small clamp to put on a shirt or jacket. If an aid
falls off, they do not disappear but are held by the cord. Simple. Yet none
of the hearing aid stores I visited had ever heard of such things. You have
guess the end of this tale, I am sure. I was wearing that device when I bent
down. The aid had fallen but not to the floor. Only to my chest. The other
aid had followed, both retained by the clamp on my jacket. Now, think about
that. I had forgotten my use of the safety device but very clearly remembered
taking both aids off and placing them on the shelf as I put my mask back on. I
was certain of that. I would have sworn to that. So in one small and
unimportant event, my memory had failed, invented a new false memory, and then
remembered what had really happened. Hmmm. ...Willow
