This may be a rambling post, so please bear with me…
Last night hubby and I watched a documentary, Antarctica: A Year on Ice. It had incredible photography and was so interesting. One of the statements that most caught my attention went something like this, “I have tried to explain to my friends and family what it is like here, but, unless you have experienced this, it is hard to understand.”
That phrase stood out to me on many levels. A couple of days ago, on Facebook, I did a shout out to those friends who were stationed with us while we lived in Japan. It was a fun post and brought back many memories. Whenever I talk with someone who was there at that time, we can easily talk and remember situations and times. There is a familiarity and a camaraderie. We all know what the housing area looked like. It was a converted Japanese WWII airstrip. There were two very wide streets that ran through the housing area. We actually lived at the end of one street that formed the ‘U’ where planes would turn to either take off or land. This area was a plateau, overlooking Sagami Bay and in the distance was a beautiful view of Mt. Fuji. In just describing this, everyone who has read this can picture in their minds what it looked like. That is the beauty of imagination and the ability to read. To those of us who lived there, though, we know exactly what we saw and experienced. Personally, in describing this, I also see the fields of either rice paddies or watermelons, and the farmers who would cut through our yard from one field to another. I remember seeing the motor bikes with a little carrier strapped to the back that was delivering food. I see the Navy kids riding bikes and yelling to one another. My experience fills in the blanks.
The statement on the documentary last night, also provoked how each of us experience life individually. None of us have the exact same experience. I can talk to my sisters and although we were raised in the same home, by the same parent, our lives are vastly different in ways. We can converse and share, and remember, often, though, our memories contradict one another. How one remembers is so different from how the others remember.
Viewpoints are different. Two people standing beside each other can see the same tree. The distance between those same two people can provide different vistas of the same thing.
I know none of this is new. I have often thought of this. It is fascinating to me to consider this. In the same way, this quarantine we are all in will produce varied results. Our observations and experiences will be different. We will come out of this season changed, but will the change be evident and obvious, or will the change be only internal and quiet? Something to think about.
Never would I have thought from watching another documentary (which we really enjoy) that such deep thoughts and musings would happen. It is a lovely day out, one of our last cooler days before the heat and humidity return, so I am heading outdoors to get some things done. Thank you for stopping by, be safe, stay healthy and wash your hands! Cathi (DAF)
dearanonymousfriend 
♥️♥️♥️
❤