Saturday, May 10, 2008

perceiving patterns

I know that it is a truth of psychology and/or neurology that the human brain is predisposed to perceiving patterns if it's expecting them. Thus the old chestnut about deaths coming in threes. But, but, but...last summer when three of my friends had immediate family members die in the space of less than a month, it was three, not two, not four.

Yeah, I know.

But having (after all my recent musing on my own prospective funeral arrangements!) in the last two days, had news of my aunt-by-marriage's death and of the very-soon-to-occur demise of a former partner's dad, I have to tell you, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. And hoping in a weird (and probably horrible way) that it'll be a former neighbor or a friend of a friend of a friend--you know, someone that I won't really grieve or that someone close to me won't really grieve, but that will satisfy the pattern. Because even though I know better, a primitive part of me thinks it's an immutable law of nature, like the sun rising in the east and setting in the west, or Papelbon protecting a lead.

Um, yeah. So maybe the shoe won't drop after all.

xoxo

4 comments:

Craig H said...

Upon reading this I was tempted to dream of a Lugo-less Sox future with 115 wins, but then I realized that if he stepped off the curb in Kenmore Square directly in front of an onrushing #65 bus, it would just go through his legs...

malevolent andrea said...

hahaha

At least Julie's providing material for our stand-up routines :-)

Uncle said...

I *used* to think Papelbon protecting a lead was an immutable law of nature, but jeez! Twice in a week??

Craig H said...

Considering the Lugo errors constituting the full difference between winning and losing in both contests, (one directly responsible for one of Jonathan's bad innings, though the other was earlier), I'm less inclined to get on Mr. Papelbon for any of it. But, never fear, Alex Cora is here. And next time around Wake likely pitches with something more resembling a breeze, so there's that, too.