If Not Medium, Then Extra Large

As you’ve probably noticed, if you’ve been reading me long, or have ever noticed the name of this blog, I’m mainly reliant on science and measurable data to guide my views on life.

But that’s not totally the case.  I’ve had some pretty weird shit happen to me that keeps the door open a crack, to all kinds of mystical hoo-ha.  Let me just tell you the story…

You’ve had “dream flashes”, right?  Maybe you call it déjà vu, but I know them as dream flashes.  They are those little snippets of life that hit you all of a sudden and you know you’ve dreamed them before.

I get them maybe 2-3 times a year and they’re usually when I’m doing something completely inconsequential, like sitting on the couch watching a game and eating a ham sandwich. 

Then, POW!  For a second or two, up to maybe five, I know I’ve seen this view before.     For a few seconds, everything is exactly as I’ve seen it; from where I’m sitting, to where I’m looking, to the taste of the sandwich, to the announcer’s call on TV and even what I’m thinking.  I always try to go with it and see how far I can stretch it.  Then real life takes over quickly and on I go as usual.

As super-powers go, it’s not exactly awe-inspiring.  I’ve had zero luck in predicting which things I’ve dreamed about will come to be.  And believe me, there are a couple in particular that would make me very happy to see come to pass… But so far, Sandra Bullock still won’t return my calls.

Déjà Bluz

OK, so it was the spring of 1976 and I was in 9^th grade.  We were living in Columbus and had just learned that we would be moving upstate to Toledo at the end of the school year.  Again, I would be leaving my friends and starting all over again in a new school.  (See previous post.)

One night, that spring, I had a dream that I was at my new school.  I was in some weird class that started with “P” and everyone was sitting at these black tables.  There were none of the usual school desks, to which I was accustomed.  And there was a girl passing out M&Ms.

I woke up thinking, “WTF?”

When I went downstairs to breakfast, I told my mom about the dream.  Neither of us knew what to make of it, and that was that.  I never gave it another thought.

Half a year later, while firmly entrenched in my new school and new life, I was sitting there in Physiology class.  Mary, another student, was having a birthday and for the occasion, she brought in a bag of M&Ms that she began to pass out to the class.

Next thing you know, POW!  Full-barrel dream flash.  Everything was exactly how it was in my dream.  From my perspective in the room, to the black lab tables, to the exact same girl with the M&Ms, it was just like I’d seen it.  The scene played out for maybe 5 seconds while I sat there with my mouth hanging open.

I realized at the time that this was all quite impossible.  When I’d had the dream, I’d never been to Toledo, let alone to that school.  I’d never heard of Physiology.  I’d never seen black lab tables like that.  OK, I’d seen M&Ms before, but that was it.  There was no way I could have been able to “see” everything I’d just seen.

Except that I did.

After class I staggered up to tell the teacher what had just happened.  I don’t really remember her reaction other than maybe a slight bemusement.  She probably just marked down in her little class-book that she should keep an eye on this one, who was obviously a troublemaker and not much of a scientist.

I showed her, though, by acing her class without even having a lab partner.  (I started with one but he moved, early into the school year.)

Through the next few years, I did a little research on the phenomenon but was never able to find anything that adequately explained how these dream flashes happen. 

What I took out of the whole thing is that one can never say what is or isn’t possible.  If I can take a peek into the future, who’s to say if someone else can see spirits, or predict the what’s going to happen next?  That doesn’t mean I buy into every crackpot that says they have powers… there are too many con men running around trying to separate people from their cash in exchange for mystical services rendered.  A healthy skepticism is necessary to get along these days.

But right before I dismiss some whack-a-loon that claims to be able to “see”, I’m forced to think, “what if?” 

Sometimes, “seeing” is believing.  And I saw for myself that there are things in this world that cannot be explained.

Breaking News

In a completely unrelated subject, I saw in this morning’s news that the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico is now said to have been triggered by a methane gas bubble.  While this would seem to put a lid on Fox “News” spew about eco-terrorists causing the explosion, they’ve never let actual facts get in the way of selling a story to their sea of angry white ditto-heads. 

Regardless, the crack research staff here at Darwinfish has uncovered the actual cause of this particular turn of events:

Gary Larson, we still miss you!