"My Mind Isn't Working"

I have this model of a train of information- millions of bits over my lifetime- and when new stuff gets added in one ear something has to drop out the other ear (or be parked in the cloud.) And there is all the stuff in my brain that is still there but off on a tangential siding of the railroad and I sometimes can't access it right away. I have to ask the dispatcher.

Sometimes what I can't find right away is the little stuff like "What was the name of the actor in some film I saw years ago? You know, it was about.." Other times I draw a complete blank on the name of someone I knew years back but haven't thought of in ages. Annoyingly, I can usually remember the name of their dog. I have a hard time remembering the titles and authors of the thousands of books I have read. But I can remember the plots or the topics.

With this mind thing in elderly age, I have learned a lot about myself as a sentient creature over the decades. I have never forgotten a plant and where it grows. Maybe I should have been a botanist. I always remember birthdays - but in a three day window!

I know that if I have some quiet time and address certain memories, they come back in full color.

What I do know and remember is the compelling stuff of the everyday life I lead.  In retirement one has many appointments and places to be, people to see and things to do. I keep a calendar of all this stuff, write it down, just as I did as a working person. I have learned the names and circumstances of a whole new circle of friends and acquaintances. So, I have forgotten the actual day of a birthday or two? No matter. I can be forgiven.

I was at first charmed by Lumosity, purporting to 'train your brain', and I loved the tiny games and the competitive sport of it, but lately I have abandoned it in favor of the hard work in the school garden, and in our own as well. I am well into Rosetta Stone Spanish after having finished Pimsleur 4.  It takes a long time to learn a foreign language, spoken and written. I really need to know this as I work with folks who only speak Spanish. I have plenty of opportunities to practice!

So, no, I'm not losing it. Taylor Swift is not a plant and she wasn't close to my generation and as far as I know doesn't  sing anything I like.  I can let her go out the other ear.