To Begin, At The Beginning

To begin at the beginning... (in the words of Dylan Thomas) ..... would probably cause the problem I am considering today as I begin this occasional blog..... what was my beginning that led to the present me and why? When talking with others, why do I remember so much of it so differently from what they remembered? The others of course were mainly my family members, as when young and moving around the country as much as we did, they were the only constants. People came into my life, affected me one way or another for a time and soon, we had then to move as my fathers career dictated. Sometimes maintaining a contact with these friends which eventually would fade and stop. New acquaintances occurred to fill the void, but seldom left a lasting or needed impression.

Mr Costello, (I hope I have it right) a man I encountered in my youth, I remember fondly, the lean Irishmen prodigious tea-drinking philosopher father of a friend. I remember what the friend looked like, but not his first name... It was Mr Costello's regular quotations between copious quantities of strong tea, which bored into my youthful and readily influenced brain. Years later as my education widened I was able to attribute many of them to their original authors, but still hear them said with the thick joyful brogue of this man. Actually this is the crux of my history, we all create our own 'history' while the events we pass through occur. When influences, and events, whether remembered accurately or not, become our personal knowledge base.

Hence the title for this blog, 'The Dead Zoo Collection'. I am a collection of past events and circumstances. For some of the events I possess actual tangible evidence, the photos, the souvenirs and while these can be displayed as actual proof, the moment they represent may not necessarily be accurately portrayed. Has no-one ever said 'smile' to you when about to take a photograph, regardless of how you were feeling at the time? Have you never looked at a kept object and rewritten (accidentally or intentionally) the moment in your thinking, of how, and when you came by it? 

And then there is the intangible and arguable, the memories. We store what we want to, for as long as we want and how we want to remember it (given good health). We influence the memory before we save it. We can also reject a memory or hide it if we find it disagreeable. We can and do edit our memories. So in a way, look on this as a reflection of memories, this is to be...... Someone Else's autobiography. While I will write of current thoughts and past experiences, by the time you read it, be they accurate or not, they will all be part of my Dead Zoo Collection.

I welcome any and all who wish to read these thoughts.