It's no joke that as you get older certain abilities begin to fade. And for most of us, hearing seems to be at the top of the list. And while I can't say that mine is wavering just yet, I have found that at my age and through the miracle of motherhood, I have learned how to tune people out. Sometimes without purposely willing it.
I have been blessed with an uncanny hearing ability that has served me more than I could have ever wanted; however, my mind will sometimes fill in words when I'm not paying enough attention or when I can't seem to make out the whole sentence. I assume this mental 'filling in' is a common plague as supported by how many butchered song lyrics we all have in our memories.
Oh, the humorous recollections I have of friends belting out such timeless classics as "there's a bathroom on the right" (Bad Moon on the Rise), "smooth opinion" (Smooth Up in You), and one of my personal favorites - "night aroma!" ("Night, I remember" - Bob Seger sang this at the end of Night Moves).
It's amazing the power the mind has to convince us of truths we do not know. This happens in all aspects of life from memories to sights to sounds. None are more easily corrected or embarrassing as hearing something incorrectly. An occurence that was never more prevalent than in my home a couple days ago:
Dwayne and I were sharing the couch when he notified me that Oklahoma had its largest recorded earthquake.
Too intent on what I was doing to grant him my complete attention, I offhandedly mentioned, "I wonder if my sister felt it."
The awkward silence brought my eyes up to meet his as he asked, "Why?"
"Because she lives in Sac, remember?"
His continued blank stare had me convinced that he had lost a bit of intellect. I employed my hands to help me create a visual. "You know, here's the Bay Area. San Francisco is here, Oklahoma is over here and Sacramento is up north." I smiled sweetly at my challenged boyfriend.
After another bought of silence, Dwayne began slowly. "Let me get this straight..." He put his hands up to emulate mine. "San Francisco is over here," he signaled with a slight wave of his left hand, "and OKLAHOMA..."
I abruptly realized my mistake. We burst out laughing in the absence of a fix for my moronic assumption that we were discussing Oakland. And in the aftermath two things became clear: Oklahoma is not located in California and at least mind is still working (on what project, I have no idea).
