Day 298, A fall, a bump, a tropical spider

40 plus years on and 70 plus kilos greater in weight, with a physical cellular mass that has completely changed many times over, what memory of this event that occurred in 1971 (or 1972) is retained and what was the impact.

What memory is there that isn't reconstructed, or is it recreated afresh with every retelling?

Presumably Locke would have something to say about the identity of the self in this instance. Although he wouldn't be familiar with the modern understanding that shows memory of events to be multifaceted and deeply ingrained in many parts of the brain, rather than something replayed in the manner of a cinematic projection.

All that aside - The strength of the memory of the size of the bump on my head.  The tautness of the skin on the bruise.  The waves of pain that radiate down and outward.  These are all there and easily recalled when the memory is only lightly touched.

In some retellings the memory of the event being directly opposite the Children's Hospital stands out.  In others it's climbing on the war memorial with a friend, about a mile from home.  What was the weather like - beyond it not raining, no idea.  In some the memory is of being back at home in the kitchen on Kelvin Flats with people saying the bruise was the size of an egg.  Another retelling has the kitchen, the bunch of bananas, and the tropical spider that decided that the bunch was no longer the ideal home.

But in the prime retelling it is where the bump on the head caused a change in consciousness, causing greater receptivity to the subsequent spider bite, which then conveyed the super-power of being able to exactly duplicate the Māori word used in The Lone Ranger by Quantum Jump, that being the longest word in the world.

Obviously people thought that my speaking in tongues was gibberish until the song came out in 1976.  So after that nobody thought my behaviour was in any way odd, no, not at all.

So that's the fall, the bump, and the spider, and how it relates to memory, and personal identity.  The impact is both literal and metaphorical, to be clear.


And here's the bit of war memorial where the incident occurred as pictured today.

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