Faulty Radar and (Mostly) Connected Bits.

One of the problems of becoming emotionally connected with somebody – in whatever way and at whatever level – is that it messes up your radar. You construct a filter that deflects the echoes to a place of expectation, so they don’t proceed straight and true to a place of reality. And then one day the filter slips, and you see the real picture for the first time. This can engender a mild but stinging form of shock; it feels as though the matrix has crumbled and left you standing, alone and bewildered, on a cold and windswept street just as the rain is coming on strong and you don’t have a coat with you.

As with other facile statements of mine, there’s nothing new in this one either. The expression ‘seeing through rose-tinted glasses’ is as old as the hills. You’d think we’d learn, wouldn’t you? In fact, I’ve no doubt that those who are more pragmatically inclined do.

I bumped unexpectedly into four people I knew today, all within the space of about two hours – three from the Shire, and one from another Shire I used to live in. That’s a most unusual occurrence in the life of JJ. And just as I was about to write this, I was watching two wood pigeons perching on the power lines that cross the field beyond my office window. One was on the top cable, and one immediately beneath. Each time the lower one turned to face the opposite direction, the one above would immediately follow suit. They went on like that for ages, and I imagine it had something to do with emotional connection. It seemed apposite, since the lower one appeared to be getting a little irritated.

So there you have it: meaningful occurrences. Don’t you just love ’em?

And by the way, I saw the tadpole in Ashbourne again today. What a cute little creature it is. (That’s for those who were reading the blog this time last week and know what I’m talking about. Call it a reward for loyalty in the face of facile statements.) On the downside, however, the woman in Ashbourne library informed me that there is no record of there being a DVD of the film Wise Blood anywhere in the county. How very uncivilised.