Random Memories Under the Peepal Tree.

I woke up this morning sort of... fragmented. A lot of things have been running through my mind, so I decided to sit under the peepal tree for a while on the stone I brought back from Maracas Bay, have a cup of coffee, and put the MP3 player on random in the house. Sometimes when my head is cluttered, the best thing to do is do nothing, think nothing, say nothing, and without urging things come to mind. It's like percolating the ether of the mind, allowing a stream of consciousness to stand up, look around and say - 'hey, this is what's going on'. That's why I'm working on the waterfall project, which will flow below the tree. That's why the bird feeder is nearby. That's why it's in the backyard. That's why the sitting stone is under the peepal tree. And that's why I sit there more and more often. Watching the rocks grow, the flowers blossom, the tree grow, and the birds living in a different zone of time to flit through and amuse themselves.

Today, a lot of random memories came to mind.

I remembered being quite young - not talking yet - and climbing up on the kitchen counter in the second apartment in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Why? I was listening to the first song that I can remember listening to - The Entertainer by Marvin Hamlisch. I remember not being aware of myself, but being aware of the radio and the sound coming from it. It was a simple mono radio, the 70s black speaker with anodized aluminium on the radio itself announcing some brand name. But I remember that song, I remember getting up on the counter to listen to it - amazed. Awed. Maybe I smiled, but I know I didn't make a sound - I was listening. To me, it was a happy sound. It had levels, I remember hearing the levels - sort of like a discussion between two instruments. For what must have been only 3 minutes and 7 seconds, I was lost to the world and lived only for that speaker. And when it was over, I realized that people might be upset if they saw me on the counter, so I got down. Managing the emotions of adults is a stressful task, as I recall. If people could have talked to me like Marvin Hamlisch did, I probably would have understood more.

Some people remember being born, or claim to. I think I do, and from what I recall it was a very unpleasant experience. Some people talk about the pink tunnel. I believe I had my eyes closed, but I can tell you that I wasn't immediately a big fan of the whole light thing.

The first thing I remember, clearly, is being in a crib in an apartment with wooden floors. It must have been a dream, because I remember peeling my skin off to see new skin underneath; something which likely did not happen. I was comfortable with that dream, though. I remember knowing I was alone when that happened, but I was comfortable with that as well.

I remember the first car I rode in - I remember the Plymouth Barracuda, a 1969 model. I remember thinking that it worked when my father released the brake - the earth was controlled by the brake in the Barracuda, and spun only when the Barracuda's brake was off.

Hours passed like that. Memories, old thoughts, new thoughts... The sun reached it's peak. My coffee cup was empty. It was time to return to the 'real world', and play with solutions for problems with gravity, data, supplies of fruit for the birds, laundry, and the chest high weeds on one side of the house. Tonight, I write some more and unclutter the brain.