I was reminded of an afternoon many years ago when I was captivated by the reflections I saw in the convex side of a teaspoon. I was in a bowling alley coffee shop, and the reflected scene from the outside which captured my rapt attention was a fascinating distorted miniature of a busy street. I don't know how long I gazed at it, but I became aware that the place had fallen silent, and I looked up to see the waitress and the other customers quickly look away from me. It was rather ironic, really. They had gotten hung up on the guy who was hung up on a reflection in a spoon. The coffee in my cup had grown cold. I think I chuckled at the situation, which probably made them think I was even more weird than they had believed.
The weirdness that day was the result of a party the night before, at which I had become quite thoroughly ripped. I remember little of the party, except that one person in attendance had suffered from the delusion that the chair in which he was sitting was continually getting lower, and a group who left before us had somehow managed to get their car out of a driveway which our car was blocking and which was their only means of egress. We came to the conclusion that they had levitated one of the cars, but never decided which of the two had been the object of this feat. In any case, the aftereffects of my indulgence were with me the following day when I discovered the strange and lovely world in the bowl of the spoon. This propensity to drift off into fantasies was one of the reasons I eventually gave up the smoke. Even without any chemical assistance, I have always had a difficult time maintaining concentration, and I eventually realized that I had no need to aggravate the trait. I suspect that I have an unusually high level of various natural brain chemicals, in any case -- which would explain my sudden and otherwise inexplicable fascination with a little fragment of bread. Ah, the wonders that will cease to exist when my brain finally shuts down and rots away!
Once I had finished my examination of the baked goods (meaning the bread, not my mind) I went out to listen to the crickets for a while. Tonight has cooled a bit more quickly than did last night, which gives me hope that the day will be less fierce. I would very much like a bit more spring before summer comes raging in. I (and the plants and frogs and such) would certainly like a bit more rain. It's April. There ought to be showers. I don't expect to be getting rain today, but I'd be satisfied if it would just be (please) less hot.