Most of my life I’ve lived by the mantra that seeing is believing. That’s always held true in science, chemistry, and physics class. But now that I have my senior’s degree in life, I’ve been forced to re-think a few former ‘givens.’ I’ve had two astounding life-lessons pertaining to the grave fallacy of believing in what you see… or at least, believing in what you believe you see.
Carol and I have been back home in Mississippi for just over 5 months now. We purchased the former home of our nephew and his family. There’s usually a few adjustment to living in a new environment, as you learn it’s personality and quirks.
Lesson one: our master-bath shower. I don’t like a soggy bath mat, and assume that others might not also. So before stepping into the shower, a place my ‘dirty’ T-shirt on top of the math mat. Did I mention that the glass door to this shower is clear glass? No frosting, no lily pads, no mermaids, no frogs. Just crystal-clear glass. Half way through my shower I happened to look down at the T-shirt on the bath mat. To my horror, it was FLOODED. The shirt had standing water on it, and clearly visible was hundreds of splashes as more water continued to pounded it! The bathroom was FLOODING! Or so I thought. It wasn’t what I saw. It was what I thought I saw! You see, a quick check revealed that the clear glass was revealing the T-shirt on the mat OUTSIDE the shower… and it was also revealing a REFLECTION of the shower spray hitting the floor on the INSIDE of the shower! These two perfectly combined images made it APPEAR that both of them were one and the same! What a relief!
Lesson two: I’m only now ‘recovering’ from this latest lesson. It happened just within the past hour!
Carol and her sister are on a week’s vacation in South Carolina there to holiday on the beach with family. Mary Ellen’s son and two grandkids went along also. Her daughter-in-law had to stay home to work. I’m not a ‘beach person’ myself, so I eagerly agreed to stay behind and baby-sit the four-legged children. We have two, Mary Ellen has two, and her son-in-law has one… and this one is staying at Mary Ellen’s.
It’s only a short hop over to M.E.’s place, and I make the trip 4 times a day, for feeding and outside time.
This morning I was making trip one to ME’s. As soon as the garage door opens, you can here the active pups inside, anticipating what is coming. I went inside, saw the three active pups eager to get into the backyard, walked across the hallway, across the den, and opened the patio door… and there were only TWO PUPS scrambling to get outside! My nephew’s larger dog, Delta, was not there! Somewhere between the back door opening into the garage and the patio door, Delta had simply disappeared!
Needless to say, I was only a degree or two from freaking out! A thorough search of the house revealed not a trace of Delta. I went outside and called. No Delta. Before making the dreaded call to South Carolina, I drove the entire neighborhood calling for the lost pup… but to no avail. Finally I made the call… and was told that Delta often ‘hides’ when outside. I looked. No Delta. Perhaps she would also hide INSIDE. I search everywhere, including closets, and under furniture. This is a 40+ pound animal, so hiding space is limited.
M.E. called her next door neighbor, who joined the search with me. I know that the circumference of that neighborhood is one mile, and I made it many times. And then South Carolina called!
I was told that a church friend of my nephew’s had picked up Delta, and that she was (safely) with this friend! Whew, what a huge relief!
I’m at a total loss as to what my part played in this whole fiasco. It could ONLY mean that Delta was NEVER at the door eager to go outside as she always is. I EXPECTED her to be there, therefore, I THOUGHT that I saw her there! I expected three, so I saw the two as THREE!
But, as I explained to Carol, I would swear in a court of law that Delta WAS THERE when I arrived! It was the same thing as that morning in the shower when the bathroom floor was flooding!
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Pen In Hand 