Hm. The last few days have been curious, to say the least.
To start with, I've been in one of my rare periods of what I call "Sherlock Holmes syndrome". The thing is, I have a very well-developed gift for pattern recognition.
It happens, however, that this gift runs amok and leaves me in a slightly dazed half-dreamy condition where everything is significant. I'm not talking about imaginary significance - this is a real, measurable phenomenon. This is a state where I can decipher the petty details of the surrounding world to a degree that resembles paranormal powers (I'd like to point out that there is nothing at all supernatural or paranormal about this - it's just a detail-oriented mind tripping on its own power).
However, it is also a slightly uncomfortable state to be in, because it leaves me somewhat unconcentrated, overwhelmed by my quasi-ESPish realisations ("Gee! Look at the pretty dew on the leaf. It's going to be sunny tomorrow. And, hey, the wheat harvest will be below average this autumn...."1). As you can imagine, this is rather disconcerting. Like driving a car while stoned, I suppose. Fortunately, the state seems to be waning as I write this. Attribute any weirdness in this writeup to the tail end of the syndrome, please.
So, I've been walking around, feeling slightly disoriented - and around me, the world has been less than obliging. Instead of comforting normality, I've been surrounded with freakish events. I won't go into all the little details - but I would like to mention one event that took place on Saturday morning, as I was feeding breakfast to my son Noah.
Noah (who is not yet two years old), suddenly informed me that "Molly2 drive car."
With all possible calm and parental condescension, I corrected him: "Noah, honey, Molly can't drive a car. Molly is a dog. Dogs can't drive cars."
At which point Noah looked at me as if I were mentally deficient and unleashed the following piece of devastatingly syllogistic formal logic:
"Grandma drive car. Grandma drive Molly. Molly drive car."3
I'm not sure how long I sat there, gaping at my not-quite-two-year-old son. Amazed.
Notes:
1) Both of these examples are made up. Don't blame me if you lose your shirt in wheat futures. I decline to provide real examples.
2) Our dog, a Tibetan Terrier, currently staying with Noah's grandparents
3) All of this translated from Danish - in Danish, the word for "to drive" is identical to the the word for "to be driven in".