Recall. Kroger just announced a recall on kale. It’s about time.
Nose flute. The nose flute is a popular musical instrument played in Polynesia and the Pacific Rim countries. There are other versions found in Africa. It is how it sounds. One plays the nose flute with one’s nose. Most nose flute concerts are canceled during cold and flu season. I would think.
Bonobo. We all know bonobos. Bonobos are dwarf chimpanzees with DNA very much like our own. Yet. They are supposed to be something else. Their name comes from a misspelling on a shipping crate. Researchers first found the animals in the town of Bolobo, Zaire, in the 1920s. Bolobos.
Space. The people are up there, I’ll tell you. But here’s the thing. If you got into your car, turned on the ignition, and drove up to the sky at 60 mph, it would take just one hour to get to outer space. If you could. If I could, I would. I’d pack a sandwich too.
Blue Whales. They are large. The biggest creature on earth. As such, their arteries are large too. A fully grown human could swim through them. Hey Jonah. Whatcha’ doing down there?
Iceland. A University of Iceland survey found that 62 percent of Icelanders believe in real-life elves. Oh yes, they do. In 2014, protesters tried to stop the construction of a proposed highway. They said it would destroy an “elf church,” which only appeared to be a gigantic rock to many outsiders. Eventually, the “church” was moved to a safe place, out of harm’s way. Highway construction continued. That rock weighed 70 tons and required a crane to move it. Yet, the preservation of places important to elves is significant to Icelanders. Icelanders’ elves actually look very much like humans and can range in size. I am not an elf. Just for the record.
Horse Jockey. In 1923, jockey Frank Hayes won a race at Belmont Park. But he was dead. He suffered a heart attack mid-race. Amazingly, his body stayed in the saddle until his horse crossed the finish line. There’s a saying about beating a dead horse, but there’s nothing about a dead jockey.
Park Ranger. A U.S. park ranger named Roy C. Sullivan held the record for being struck by lightning the most times. He survived being struck seven times between 1942 and 1977. And then. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot in 1983.
Recall. All of this, because Kroger is recalling kale. Again. It is about time.
The ability to recall can be one of two things.
1. Bringing a fact, event, or situation back into one’s mind. Remembering.
2. Officially ordering someone or something to return to a place.
Though Kroger is performing the latter, I am thinking more of the first item. What is it we recall? Do we recall only what we want? Is that how memories are formed? Or is it random? We simply remember somethings and not others.
Some memories are hard and painful. They’ve left a mark on us, and while it could be something, we’d rather forget, it sticks there in our brains. We can’t shake it. Is it because we paid such close attention when it was happening?
That might be part of it. The attention we give a matter when it is happening might directly affect our ability to remember that event in the long run.
We remember big events, both good and bad. Car wrecks and birthday parties. Skiing injuries and wedding days. We probably paid close attention during those types of events.
We remember. We forget. The brain is a mystery unfolding every day. And we wonder how it wonders. And what it will recall. I will forget kale.
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“Some things melt before they become memories.”
― Patti Smith, Devotion
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“Do I forget, or do I refuse to remember?”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough
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“A clear conscience is the sure sign of a bad memory.”
― Mark Twain
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Recalled. The more we know, the more we do.
