It happened again today. For the better part of my adult life, I have been haunted by a vision from my past and there is little (if anything) I can do other than welcome this specter from days gone by. The apparition takes the form of a face. With skin of yellow and eyes of oxidized copper. The vision always comes without warning although it is obvious what has summoned it. A smell through the portals of time.

[ please continue... ] [tag:musing strange living]

It is uncanny, but whenever I catch the slightest whiff of a particular type of rubber (perhaps it's  vinyl) my mind goes immediately to a silly rubber ball I once possessed as a child. This was no ordinary ball. It was a very thick-skinned, hardish, yellow inflatable that seemed to have only enough air to keep it round (but no more.) This thing had to be one of the earlier manifestations of the ever popular "smiley-face" but also featured the less than popular "frowney-face." Both of these painted-on emotions shared a single pair of eyes in the form of two copper disks inlaid into circular recesses that were sized to retain the disks yet allow them to slide about. They emitted a faint clicking sound whenever the ball was bounced around or otherwise manipulated.

While looking into the eyes of the ball when it was smiling you need only rotate 180 degrees to let smiley's hair become frowney's mouth and vise versa. I can see even now - with my minds eye - all the dirty little scuffs and scrapes revealing that this toy has certainly had an adventure filled existence.

Why do I remember that hedgeapple sized orb so vividly. I mean, as far as I know there is no outstanding story surrounding my acquisition of it nor separation from it. However when I recall this item I am taken back to memories of my childhood every bit as vivid as those of my long-lost yellow bipolar rubber ball. All the memories that surface in relation to this ball in themselves are unremarkable beyond the fact they show glimpses of a world long gone yet preserved for now in that mysterious space between my ears. Memory truly is a funny thing. Whenever I think about that crazy ball it is always smiling back at me through the expanse of history. I will take that as a good sign.

UPDATE - Don't Miss: Hello Happy-Sad Ball [smiley::D]