Sunday, December 28, 2014

A FATEful morning.

Getting old is a bitch!  This morning, while sitting at the iMac, I glanced up the adjoining wall and noticed a smudge.  I used my thumb to remove it and wondered why I hadn't noticed it before.  Hmmm.  

Wait!  Wait!  There used to be a piece of artwork hanging there!  Omigosh, when did it go away?

It was my own work - an acrylic painting of the Four Fates.  It had been hanging there for a loooong time.  But it's wasn't there.  Where did it go?  WHEN did it go?

I wracked my brain and had no memory of taking it down myself. I loved that thing.  Why would I have removed it?  I went through some older digital pics and saw it wasn't hanging when we swapped out the laptop for the iMac.  So it's been gone at least a month.  And I only noticed it today??

I don't know what upset me more: that it was gone?  or that I only noticed it was gone today?   The brain is a frustrating organ.

Yet, for some reason, I didn't feel as upset as I thought I should have been...  Was my brain trying to tell me something?  Well, if it knew where it was - why wouldn't it just tell me! But it didn't.  I tore the whole 1st floor apart.  No luck.  I tore apart the 2nd floor office.  No luck.  Did someone take it?

I've lost keys before.  Scissors.  Gloves, socks, shopping lists.  Normal stuff. Unfortunately I don't often take pics of the interior of the house.  I'm a garden gal.  So I couldn't easily find any more shots of the writing nook when the painting WAS there.

I had a cup of tea and a little breakfast.  Frustrated, I returned upstairs.  I started in the storage eave this time.  Nothing obvious.  I left.  Came back later - and decided to look in the flat box where I transported artwork from the old house.  

And there it was.  I have, even as I type this, NO MEMORY of taking that painting off the wall and storing it back up in the attic.  None.  Nada.  Zip.

When did I do it?  Why did I do it?  Obviously my brain knew where it was.  It wouldn't tell me.  All it did was kept me abnormally calm about it not being up on the wall this morning.  Sheesh.

Is there a neurologist in the house?  Psychotherapist?  Heck, I'd settle for a hypnotist at this point.  Usually, when I find something I've moved and forgotten, the memory of "Oh, yeah.  I remember that!" pops up and all is well.  Not this time.

After all the hubbub, I've decided to leave the painting in the box in the attic.  After all, I must have had a damn good reason to put it back there after years on the wall, right?  Right?  Otherwise, the alternative is just too scary.  And I'm not ready to deal with that!

How about you?  How does your memory play tricks with YOU?  When was the last time you felt you needed to sit down and take some time to count your marbles?  *sigh*

In other news, Christmas was nice and drama-free.  Mom spent Christmas eve here and we had a lovely brunch and then a late lunch on Christmas Day.  Hope yours was just as fulfilling as ours was.

Looking forward to the New Year and wishing you all health and happiness in 2015.  

Cheers!


13 comments:

  1. Oh dear---I've had the same thing happen. I have moved things, or put them "somewhere else" and have no memory of doing so. Perhaps we sleep walk????LOL!
    Well, at least you FOUND the painting. Who knows, ---maybe some day you'll figure it out. I wouldn't worry too much.
    And you paint ????
    Is there no end to your talents?
    I'm trying to learn how to watercolor. I "suck" at it, but it gives me endless hours of pleasure so I plug away at it.
    Would love to see some of your art. Maybe even the travelling picture?

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    1. Duh---now I need help. I see the picture now. I need help!
      LOL!

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    2. Oh Sue, you really made me laugh! And boy, laughing really helps with stress. I'm glad I decided to blog about it. It's good to know I'm not the only one with these kinds of antics. Hey - I watercolor too! Took some lessons back in the 80s between jobs. Should make time to try my hand at it again. Enjoy your painting. It's creative - and therapeutic! LOL

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  2. Glad you found it. Perhaps the reason you put it away for safekeeping will come back to you. Hopefully.

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    1. I suppose I could rationalize it out.... but the fact that I even forgot doing it - that was the scary part. At least I still have the painting, if not the memory. Cheers and happy holidays!

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  3. I've had that happen, always when I need to put something away 'safely' and securely. Then, months or weeks later I have absolutely no idea where the h*ll it is.

    I can usually manage to remember that I found a 'safe' location and there's often a self-congratulatory recollection that I was so terribly damn clever . . . trouble is, I'm clearly not clever enough to recall the drawer or cupboard that impressed me so much back when . . .

    Seriously though, apparently when we do something at a time of stress, whilst the brain is in the process of healing from the stress (and dumping much of the anxiety-inducing memory) it also dumps surrounding data that you might prefer to hang on to! So don't worry kiddo, you're not going senile. And in the last couple of years you've had a lot of stress when you weren't well, so that's probably when the picture relocated.

    {{ hugs }}

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    1. I've caught myself doing that - squirreling something away 'clever' and can sometimes stop myself. I have to put things in 'proper' places, not hidey-holes. Don't want to get this bad habit. Yeah, I'm going for 'stress'. It's a great catch-all to explain the unusual.

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  4. Oh yeah...been there too Sister! Amazing how we just go on auto-pilot most of the time. I do that with the acid pill I take am and pm. Did I take it? Yes? No? {sigh}

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    1. Oh man, pills and supplements are the worst - even when I put them out. Gotta really be 'on point' when I fill the vitamin caddy every week. Damn auto-pilot. Once, when I switched jobs, one morning I didn't pay attention and wound up in the parking lot of the OLD job. Good grief!

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  5. You just have to laugh and go on.....trying to figure it out will make you crazy (crazier)!

    I have lost things and get so frustrated about it......sometimes Dh can go behind me and find it.....sometimes not.

    Very interesting painting. You are a woman of many talents!

    I do hope we all have a very good year in 2015.

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    1. Oh lucky you to have DH to help. I'm beginning to better understand my Mother, that's for sure. LOL Thanks for checking out the painting. I'm very happy how it turned out. Something was wrong with it for years until I figured it out. So I went and removed the hour hands on the clock. Now the Fates are timeless. Happy New Year!

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  6. I have days I am convinced I'm losing my mind. I'm usually stressed out or exhausted and just need to rest. At least the painting was safe and sound. :o)

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    1. Hi Tammy, thanks for chiming in. It's reassuring to know that the 'painting episode' isn't uncommon amongst us busy, stressed, multi-tasking folks. LOL Hope all is well and that you have a happy, healthy (and stressless) New Year! Take care...

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