As I sit here at my desk wondering how long this staying at home is going to last, I’m looking at the pictures I have on my wall. I see them of course, every day, but I don’t actually see them.

I find just siting and looking at them, letting the image enter my mind rather than letting it just flash in and out of my brain. I can close my eyes and let my mind go back to when I took them; the whole day comes back to me in sharp focus.

I have pictures on my wall from the Grand Canyon, Africa, Panama, Costa Rica and the Amazon. Each time I concentrate on one of them, my mind goes back to the actual instant when I took the picture; I can see in my mind all the things that were around me.

I see the entire water hole that the bird was sitting in; I see the tree that the birds had the nest in. It’s all in my mind and the pictures bring back the entire experience so I can enjoy it again. Looking at the picture and letting my mind go free (which, as I get older could be disastrous, it might not come back), I can relive my adventures.

It’s amazing what the mind holds in the brain. We are mostly unaware that our past is so well stored. It is like having it stored in the cloud and forgetting the passwords.

Our past is still living deep in some crevasse of our brain. It is frustrating trying to bring a memory back out for us to enjoy without the password. The triggers to our memory take many different forms. The key to open a memory might be just a word that somebody says or perhaps a story that they are telling. It could be an odor that brings back memories. In my case the photos on my walls do a great job of parting the clouds. Each one takes me back to some point in my life of wonder. I am reminded of how incredible this planet I call home is, and how fortunate I am to be allowed to explore it. I have been given health, political freedom, and enough money and opportunity to live as a wandering wonderer. I love my country