As I retrieve my charcoal-grey fleece from the closet at my physiotherapist’s clinic — more by feel than by sight, given this collection of indistinguishable black and dark-grey outerwear — I see a face peering out at me over the rod. I get out my phone.
I turn around to see the three-in-one receptionist, laundrician, and cashier looking at me oddly. But when I show her what I have, she gets out *her* phone.
I do that too!
My husband thinks I’m silly.
I laugh. She speaks again.
I figure you have to enjoy the little pleasures. Right?
Right.
That, and watch out for snakes.
Somebody told me that those seemingly innocuous, all-too-ordinary-looking things with the faces are actually spying on us. Placed there by aliens. Who knew?
At least you’re aware of them. That gives you a leg up, or maybe it’s a face up, on the rest of us. Good on you!
Tom
Tom – We’ll get NASA on it . . . They can check out faces while working on the whole UFO thing. https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/27/politics/pentagon-ufo-videos/index.html
This charming example of pareidolia raises a question I had never asked myself, “Does a snake have a face?” Which animals have “faces” and which do not? What is the place of fable in anthropomorphizing animals to such writers and illustrators as Beatrix Potter? These questions will perplex me as I try to avoid seeing “faces” in all kinds of inanimate objects peering at me while taking notes with their less visible fingers and toes. Why does “pareidolia” nudge closer to “paranoia”? Perhaps this “little pleasure” is far from “silly.”
Laurna – Snakes have eyes and a mouth and a nose (although I had to check that here to be sure of the latter) in more or less the standard configuration so I’d say that they have faces. I have read that pareidolia is tied to heightened surveillance as a psychological trait. Maybe. Or maybe it’s as Barbara says: Once seen, never unseen. Good luck around the house.
The house is not so much a problem as those ducks somewhere out there watching me!
Laurna – LOL. IKR? I hope someone is looking after that. It can’t be allowed to continue.