Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Fire Hose Moments

Some of you might know that another one of my interests is Radio Controlled (RC) model airplanes.

Last week out at the flying field I tried to snub one of my glow engines I was trying to get to stop. I could have just tilted it forward and let the ground snub it but oh no I tried to pinch the fuel line. Low and behold my knuckle got just a bit too far forward and the prop whacked it. No stitches seemed were necessary but it still hurts and today the scab fell off while I was cleaning up outside. So I had to wash it and get my wife to put on a new bandaid. Naturally, she had her usual commentary while applying the bandage.

"You need to come out of that foggy world you life in and start paying attention to what you do!" She scolded.

I hate it when she does that and she knows it and does it anyway. Then I give it back to her, in a gentle sort of way, and she really gets bent out of shape. Oh well, I guess that after fifty years there's gonna be some ups and downs.

Every day I walk the dogs for twenty minutes in the morning and twenty minutes in the evening. When I do I think about whatever book I happen to be writing or about the class, the Exploratory Writing Workshop, that I happen to teach here at Wdc. I always come up with something that has percolated and then been buried in my brain.

I often tell my students that man created the computer with the human brain in mind. You have two types of memory. Read Only Memory (ROM), which operates all the functions you don't have to think about and Random Access Memory (RAM) which is what your conscious mind uses to think and write about things. I repeat over and over that the RAM part of your brain has a capactity of about three to nine thousand words. You can juggle that size a requirement but beyond that you need to save (Remember)what you're thinking in order to clear your mind and make some space. Thus writing notes to yourself or keeping a journal, diary or outline is a good idea....that is if you really want to remember what you're thinking about.

When the RAM filled up it automatically dumps the excess material into a trash file that might or might not flash as a recollection when stimulated by the right thoughts, words or events. So if I clear my mind on these walks, my muse talks to me, knowing that she isn't just spitting into the wind. It makes my muse mad when she shares nuggets of wisdom and I don't write them down. Then she stamps her foot in frustration and storms off to find somebody who'll listen and pay closer attention.

Sometimes when I can't get the words to flow smoothly and spontaneously I know she was by and left a message, but I have to think about it and dredge up where she put the answer. Have you ever saved something to a file and then forgotten the file you saved it in? Well for me that is a common occurrence so when I have problem and don't have an answer, I know its there somewhere and I have to go looking. Often I lack the mood or motivation and have to prod myself to put on my thinking cap and concentrate.

Invariable when I do, the plug of confusion comes burping out of the fire hose and the cleared blockage produces a rush of insight and understanding. Is it just me or does everyone have these moments?