Thinking About Thinking

(children in photo: Jillian,6 yrs, Jim, 62 yrs, Katie, 3 yrs)

December 2nd, 930am -

I'm flat on our front room sofa. Looking out the window. Appears cold and rainny - a typical November day. I'm watching leaves fall off the pear tree in our front yard blanketing the grass, waiting for collection to the front curb, then getting whisked away. Normally, instead of enjoying the moment like I am now, I would calculate the time and effort involved for the distasteful drudge work of raking. Categorizing another household chore and not looking forward to it. Look for roses, see the weeds.

But not today. Not me. Nothing I can do about the leaves. Same with thinking. Since I'm in "recuperation" mode, totally inactive, I can give individual thoughts as much time if not more than they need. The speed and chocoblock of life aren't bumping into my thoughts as they speed down the synapetic highways in my head. No cross streets, intersections, or flashing blue lights in sight. Is this what it's like to be retired? :)

What would happen if you put a PETA member inside a room full of mosquitoes? I can give that as much thought as I want.

Why do I lock my pickup in the St. Andrew's parking lot before going to Mass? Lack of trust?Personal property paranoia? Habit? That's it, probably habit...one size fits all. Otherwise things could get very complicated; parking lot of Barnes and Noble looks ok; parking lot of Harris Teeter looks shifty. You get my point.

This no limit thinking can get hard and time consuming. you could call and ask how I feel and a Presidential election season could pass before I finish answering the question. May that's why God gives some of us (A-hem) a slight reduction in memory as we get older concomitant with a corresponding increase in free time. It never occured to me that thought is a time management issue, but there you have it.

Or maybe not.

I have been trying to catch up on my stack of magazines and came across an article in Smart Money, "Less Strain, Better Brain", by Dyan Machan. It seems that some of our cranial compadres such as Albert Einstein "imagined himself a child riding on a beam of light" just before formulating his special theory of relativity. The head of Ping Golf Club Company came up with 36 improvements on golf tees and clubs by standing in his backyard and looking at the stars. Day dreaming is good! Who knew? Would have been a tough sell for my public school teachers over the years though - if I had time to explain while nourishing my "creative" side.

Think I'm going to call over across the street and ask mom Jeanette if her daughters, Jillian (6 years) and Katie (3 years) can come over and play. I have a small box I use as a doorstop filled with colorful, small seashells and smooth sand stones. They can help me count and separate them before we catch Dora the Explorer.

Just as soon as I take the ones out that have the magic powers.