This morning I saw a very cool thing when I went outside for a cigarette. A big 
vulture came swooping down and sat on top of the telephone pole right behind our house. Those things are so BIG – ugly, sinister-looking things. In fact when they come around, and down so low, they look really out of place; it’s like they screw with my sense of perspective. A tree that looks so large and far away seems suddenly as if it must be smaller and closer up – because the giant bird on the top could not possibly be that big!
Anyway, so this vulture sits up on the telephone pole and all the other birds that are normally here, the crows, the jays, etc., well, it became apparent that they were very upset and they flew around squawking and screeching, really making a fuss, swooping down near the vulture and shrieking. After a while, the giant bird finally lifted its wings and flapped away – with all these jays and crows and other little birds streaking after him and “scolding” him. It was like they were clearly saying “Yeah, Get Out and Stay Out!” And it cracked me up. I wonder, really, just how smart birds are. Apparently crows are pretty darn smart; I understand they have even developed a language with different dialects and everything. I find it rather fascinating.
Then, I started thinking about how we (humans) filter out so much of the sensory information we are constantly bombarded with; we automatically do this all the time. So I decided to try to ignore those filters and listen; really listen to absolutely everything that I could hear. So I stood there and listened. I could hear lots of birds of course. We always have a lot of rather noisy birds around here. So I listened first to the birds, I could hear crows of course, then the jays, then some other little birds whose names I don’t know. I often can hear mockingbirds, sometimes doves. And I’m pretty sure I have heard an owl at least once before.
So then, besides the birds, I realized I could hear a neighbor talking softly. And I could hear the wind in the trees, the wind chimes tinkling. And I was surprised to realize I could very clearly hear traffic on the highway, more than I would expect; we are sort of out in the country here. I could hear a plane in the sky, a power tool of some sort, a car engine starting.
And suddenly it all was screaming into my ears all at once and what had always before felt like a very quiet, peaceful place, suddenly became an overwhelming cacophony! I had to go inside! And then when it occurred to me that the same experiment could be done inside and would also undoubtedly be very surprising at how much could be heard in a seemingly quiet house – well the idea suddenly frightened me. Just think if one’s filters did not work and one was constantly bombarded with all the noise, it would drive you insane! I was afraid it would just freak me out too much if I did this same experiment inside so I did not do it. But it really made an impression on me in terms of how bad it would be if those filters didn’t work. Supposedly, ADD/HD involves filter problems, and thus extra sensitivity to situations where there are lots of people or a lot of noise and chaos. And which also explains some of my own experiences in my life and particularly as a child; times when I could not cope well when around particularly noisy or crowded environments. Interesting, though, that we (I, anyway) can choose to turn those filters on or off.
And thinking about all of this leads me to think again about my dad having Asperger Syndrome. As I have been reading this book, it has started to bring sudden illumination to me; I am seeing how certain things now make sense and how certain things are connected.
A lot of things to think about. And I am thankful that I have my sister to talk to; I love discussing ideas and thoughts. I realize how much I have always craved intelligent discussion; as does my sister. I am glad I have her. I wonder why it is that so many people don’t seem to be this way. How so many times it seems people just content themselves with meaningless small talk. But we learn and grow through communicating with others; people would never evolve without benefit of other people. But I guess some of us don’t care about evolving. I think there are even some – maybe a scarily large number – who are actually DE-evolving. (And unfortunately, a large number of those seem to be Republicans these days; my perception anyway. Please note though that I did not say ALL Republicans. Just way too many if you ask me…)
And I should know better than to end by going off on a political rant… oh well, my apologies to anyone who might be offended. This is MY blog though, after all… 🙂