seeing is changing...

Coming in late from an evening with friends, I was reminded how much sight influences our world. If we didn't see things change, would we even be aware of that they do?

I walked in to a house stilled by the late hour, the kitchen reminiscing the fresh tomatoes and pasta my sister cooked for Sunday supper. The drive home had been full of memory - things look different behind the wheel - familiar streets recalling youthful adventures with my Grandpa. Things looked different then. Signs and decor change, even for landmark restaurants.

As I microwaved leftovers which I didn't really need [late hours and slowing metabolisms consciously ignored], I heard my older sister's voice in the living room. She was combing our old dog. She asked my dad a simple question about Cricket's fur, her voice reflecting a child's quest for answers. She was sincere and his response was certain. Unable to see either of them from the kitchen table where I sat, I believed for a moment that I was 8 and she was 12 and our dad still knew everything about everything. [my dad = the original wikipedia]

Aside from the ocean, my summer was generally free of reflective surfaces. It was something I didn't really think about at the time. We did everything outside - from eating to sleeping to brushing teeth. It was camp, so appearance wasn't a high priority anyway. Except for a brief glance in an inconsequential mirror every morning I never really saw myself. I didn't realize that my hair turned blonde or that the eyes I looked out from fit into an older face than most of the kids on staff.

Sight changes everything. One must see something in the sense of noticing it, and also in the sense that we process and return new information. The world moves at different paces. Our dining room wall paper hasn't changed, but the people who sit around our table [with less and less frequency] have developed. Closing your eyes doesn't make any of it go away.