Illusion of the Imagination

Another week passes by. At least this one was a bit calmer than the previous. March not only came in like a lion, but steamrolled on through with a whole pride of them – for those of us in PA, NJ, and DE, at any rate. But such is the way of the weather here; it seems to be gone as quickly as it comes. The last vestiges of our 6+ inches of snow from the last of the storms last week is but a memory, only hints remain in patches protected from the sun for most of the day – and those blackened mountains piled up in shopping center parking lots. We’ll still have another week or so of those around I’ll wager.

Anyway, that was what I was ruminating over at work when I had one of those strange moments as I was walking past the front entrance. Everyone is familiar with Déjà vu, I am sure, but this wasn’t one of those feelings. Actually, I’m not sure if this kind of feeling has an actual name for it, though right after that moment, I had the perfect word to describe it, but naturally couldn’t write it down at that time, and by the time I had the time, I had forgotten what it was. Therefore, I will just use the term illusiantive. It was just a brief moment, as I looked out the front doors – a split second feeling of being in different place. It felt like I wasn’t in New Jersey, but in a store somewhere out West. Then the feeling was gone as quick as it came. Something similar will usually happen to me every now and again, as I am out and about, checking out an interesting area of my surroundings while driving, or walking around. A feeling of whatever I happen to be gazing at would be right at home somewhere out in one of those places of our great country that I have been in the past.

Perhaps it is the Wanderlust in my soul that has been put away for so many years, or just the fact that many of those places that strike me at those moments are ones where I felt free and completely relaxed from the daily grind and worries that go with it. At the very least, those feelings offer me a brief moment of peace and help me stay relaxed throughout the day as I reminisce about those adventures I had in the past – even if it was just a less than thrilling 45 second ride on one of the damn roller coasters at HersheyPark.

Even though I find disappointment at Winter’s passing, at least in regards to the snowfalls which make the cold and dark worth tolerating, it paves the way for the anticipation of those days in the Spring and Summer where the family trips to Hershey, or elsewhere, bring back those moments of complete freedom and relaxation.