Runester

I have a couple of interesting stories to tell. It would have been nicer to write them on the days they occurred, but that just wasn’t possible. Now I have the time and the inclination … so now is when I’ll write them!

Bermuda Depths

Back in 1978, when I was only eight (8) years old, I saw a made-for-TV movie named “The Bermuda Depths”. It starred a very young (19?) Connie Sellecca; also Carl Weathers, Burl Ives, and others. Though I forgot the title, the plot, and the actors, I never forgot the movie. The images of the beautiful girl, the giant turtle, and the tragic ending stayed with me … and haunted my memories.

Years and years afterward, I would still see, in my mind, scenes from that movie. Sometimes, I’d dream about it. I wasn’t even sure it was a movie, the memory was so distant that I assumed it was some strange dream I had - I just couldn’t be sure!

Last year, I did a keyword search in IMDB.com (Internet Movie Database), looking for “giant turtle” and found the reference. I was amazed, this was a movie after all! I then read about it, and determined to see it again. So, first I setup a “wish list” entry on my TiVo, hoping to catch a re-airing on one of my many cable channels. That didn’t work. Then, I looked at various DVD web sites hoping to find a “released to DVD” notice so I could purchase it that way … no luck! It turns out, this was made-for-TV, never re-aired, and never released on video or DVD.

So, I did what I had been putting off … I began searching electronic bulletin boards, discussion forums, and USENET. On one forum, SciFi channels web site, I found a discussion of this movie and other’s attempts to find a copy. One gentlemen posted a comment about being able to dupe VHS or DVD … so I emailed him. He did have it! I paid him, and two weeks later got a DVD in the mail. The packaging was surprisingly professional, but the DVD was obviously a read/write-able.

Imagine my thoughts and feelings, when after 26 years, I popped that DVD into my player and sat down to watch it! Of course, it wasn’t as good as I remembered. I had added a numinance that the movie generally lacked. But, the elements were there … dream like and haunting. Further, I am not the only one this movie has had a profound effect on … reading the discussion boards reveals many, many people remember this movie and some of those have been seeking to re-watch it. Why?

At first, I didn’t know … and just chalked it up to childhood memories. Then I told my mom this story on the phone one Sunday and she remembered the movie as well! She pointed out that there are many mythological elements … psycho-mytho-logical. The beautiful girl, eternal, rising from the sea. The giant sea turtle. [She even posited that they were the same being, the girl being a kind of shape-changer.] The golden haired boy, lost and searching. The fanatical hunter, dragged down by his query. All of these elements are the stuff of legend, of dream, of myth. No wonder it made an impact!

Van Gough’s (sic Van Gogh) Garden

I had a dream, a few nights ago (Sunday, 11-July-2004) in which I was back in Michigan with some friends and we were by a lake. The area was very plush with trees and grasses and such. I was walking through a green house, and the floor was completely covered with Tulips made from pastel colored tissue paper. Someone off to my right said, “This is Van Gough’s Garden.” At which I thought, “Oh, that would explain all of the pastel colors he used!” [NOTE: I am informed by my girlfriend, that it was Monet who painted pastel flowers ... apparently my dream self is not much of an art aficionado.] Further, when I thought of the name “Van Gough” I pictured it spelled out in front of me, and it occurred to me that if his last name was spelled with a “C” instead of a “G” we could be “Van Cough!”

This was so funny, that I woke up laughing - out loud! This startled my cats, who I am sure already think me a little odd. Still, every time I think of “Van Cough” I chuckle … it’s funny, in a dada sort of way.

Synchronicity

A few weeks ago (Thursday, 8-July-2004), I lived a powerful example of synchronicity. I had come home from work, and instead of drinking my 32oz of water, like usual, I drank some Diet Coke w/Lime. This made it hard to fall asleep (that late night caffeine). Further, my air conditioning had not been working since the beginning of summer, so I have been leaving all of the upstairs windows open and running my fan to keep the temperature down. The down side of using the fan, is that cat hair and other dander got blown into my right eye and it was irritated. Between the scratchy eye and the “racing mind” caused by the caffeine - I gave up on sleep and decided to read for a while. Further, I turned the damn fan off. So, I propped myself up in bed, in a totally quiet house, turned on my reading light and began where I had left off in Dr. Wayne Dyers “Your Sacred Self.” The section I was reading was specifically discussing the many ways we are all connected, and how when the author most needed some piece of information or had been thinking about a particular person, it or they show up in his life. Synchronicity in action!

While reading this chapter, the perfect still of the room was interrupted by what sounded like a woman screaming. No, really … like a single high-pitched syllable, someone in pain or anxiety. I tried to ignore it, perhaps it was a bird or something. A few minutes later, I heard it again. This time I stood near my open sliding glass doors, and listened intently. The sound occurred again! I thought it may be kids playing around, though it was just after midnight, and I could hear no other sounds of people or speech or laughter. Further, there was something strange about the single syllable, which isn’t how I’d imagine someone crying for help.

Still, the idea really bothered me - what if it was? I remember reading about the Kitty Genovese case, and swore I’d never be a bystander if I could help. I wasn’t going to break that promise now, I needed to get out there and see for myself. So, I put on pants and shoes, grabbed my car keys and cell phone, and went outside. I stood on my stoop, and listened for all I was worth. When the sound occurred again, I caught the direction but knew it was further then I had thought.

Now, what was going through my mind was very dark. I knew it could be some weird dog bark, distorted by distance, or people arguing in another condo unit, or something else entirely … but I also kept picturing some woman being raped, or perhaps one of my elderly neighbors with a broken leg, lying outside moaning for help. These images, very dark, kept me moving. I went and got in my truck, and started driving slowly around. I kept my windows down, and did my best to listen. I didn’t hear anything, and after circling my entire neighborhood almost returned. Then I remembered the bar one street over and the idea that someone was being attacked in the parking lot filled me with dread.

I drove outside of my neighborhood, down the main road and looked carefully at the cars in the parking lot … the bar was closed and no one was there. I wasn’t hearing the noise anymore and was out of ideas, so I decided to call it a night and return. Instead of turning around, I turned the corner and planned on entering the subdivision through a side entrance … when I was stopped by a large semi truck with trailer, trying to back into my street. Since the road was very narrow, he had to keep pulling forward, adjusting his wheels, and then pull back, then stop and pull forward … adjusting his angle each time. Every time he stopped, he’d tap the air brakes and they’d emit this loud, single syllable “screech.”

When I realized that this is what I had been hearing, a wave of relief washed over me. No one was hurt, no one was being attacked, no little old lady was lying outside her home with a broken hip … it was just a semi trying to “thread the needle” with his huge trailer! Since he was blocking the whole road, I had to wait - but I didn’t mind. A few other cars were stopped as well, one behind me and two in the other direction. We all had to wait for him to get his whole rig straight and off the main road. Of course, then he was blocking the street I was going to enter, but I figured I’d just loop around and come in some third way.

As soon as he stopped his truck, and the stopped traffic (including myself) started moving, he climbed out and began to wave at us. Of the four cars there, I was the only person to stop and ask what he needed. It turned out he was lost, and desperately needed help getting to his delivery destination. It just so happens, because I’m new to the state and frequently get lost myself, that I always carry books of maps in my truck. I was able to get out, find the right map book, and after talking to him for a few minutes, we figured out where he made the wrong turn and how he could get back on route.

He was very grateful, I was very relieved, and we both went our own ways. When I got home, I was contented on having helped, and now tired enough to sleep.

Seems like a minor adventure, right? Stop for a moment to think about the extraordinary level of coincidences that had to take place to make it possible. Moving backwards from the end - how many drivers would be willing to pull over to help a stranger, at 12:30 AM, on a dark, rural road? How many of them would have had map books in his car, needed to help the driver return to his path? How many people heard the same noises, but did not leave their home to investigate … perhaps not being exposed to the Kitty Genovese story and taking the matter as personally as I did? The coincidences don’t stop there, because if I had known it was a truck’s air brakes I was hearing, I wouldn’t have left my safe, worm bedroom. It was my fear that it was something serious, someone in trouble, that got me moving. So, even my misunderstanding and dark imaginings were part of the event!

I can’t even begin to understand the beginning of this event, was it 15+ years ago when I first read about Kitty Genovese and the subsequent analysis of human behavior? Was it when I moved to Massachusetts in January of 2001 and got so severely lost that I started collecting map books so I could find my way? Or, what about the conversation I had with my mother a month earlier when she recommended “Your Sacred Self” for me to read?

Some people may read this and just assume a random series of events, with a harmless conclusion. I see things differently. I was in a position to help someone who needed it, even if it was just to get him back on his way, and decades worth of events conspired to make sure we had the rendezvous that we needed to have for this to happen. How many other “chance” meetings brought me contact with some of my best friends; Resulted in my jobs; Introduced me to my girlfriends; Has made a thousand things possible for me; without my direct knowledge and certainly beyond my control? Synchronicity seems neither rare nor special, it literally is the way things work.