Evolution sometimes has an interesting sense of humor. We have evolved to be good at pattern recognition. It’s important to be able to pick out that tiger lurking in the underbrush or that poisonous snake amongst the leaves. And it’s always a good idea to be able to tell your friends apart from your enemies. This is the stuff of survival.
But in this modern age, we may just be too good at pattern recognition. We see the Virgin Mary in grilled cheese sandwiches. We see conspiracies where none exist. Our prejudices about people’s appearances prevent us from feeling safe and often promote unnecessary violence and war. We’re frequently so intent upon describing criminals to the police that we don’t even come close to being accurate. These days, more often than not, pattern recognition bites us in the butt.
But it is nice to be able to look up at the clouds in the sky and see horses and angels and butterflies. Imagination has “image” in it for a reason. It’s fun to pick out constellations, read palms, and create intricate tattoos. Without pattern recognition, we could never play Candy Crush Saga.
In recent weeks, pattern recognition has been both a blessing and a curse to me. I keep seeing old red Ford F150’s everywhere I go. And I see older men with long hair and beards and baseball caps and sunglasses. All of these things make me hope, for a split second, that my boyfriend isn’t dead after all. My heart leaps. And then drops back down into its state of heartbreak when I realize I’m once again mistaken. How many times will I have to fall for that trick?
But on the brighter side, there’s this tree outside my bathroom window. When the wind isn’t blowing, the branches look exactly like the profile of my boyfriend. I never noticed that before, but now it’s all I see, and it makes me smile. I’ll be really sad when a branch breaks or the tree grows in such a way that the image disappears. But maybe by then I won’t need to see it anymore.
[Image credit: imgarcade.com]
The View from a Drawbridge 
Florida does have it’s good points. Hopefully your tree is Evergreen. I sit every morning by the pond watching the sun come up on a new day. In TN, the leaves are popping out. A week ago there were just a few here and there, now hundreds on each tree, next week we won’t bee able to see the paths on the hillside. I tried counting them as they came out. the first week that was easy, now I just see how far into the woods I can see. My view is ever changing, but for the present and near future, I hope your view remains beautifly intact. Enjoy.
It is a pine tree, so yes, evergreen. But I’d take a change in seasons over that any day.
Hey… I did a post exactly like this… I also rewrote the song: Plastic Jesus and called it: Cheesy Jesus… but hey, feel free to borrow my ideas anytime… HA!
LOL, they did a show on Glee about Cheesy Jesus. Finn had a grilled cheese with the image of Jesus, and found a higher meaning in life.
It is the same reason why we see faces in the clouds, or animals… it is a curious fact of human nature.
Whatever works for you, that’s what I say. 🙂
You inspire me vicariously, it seems.
I can do that… I am that good…