wow - thats a verbose thread title - but hey - on with my thoughts
we all remember things - but do we remember them accuractly ?
[ the TL : DR synop[sis of this thread is a critique of the new zealand has moved and berenstain bears threads ]
the answer is - of course not - but we think we do
my evidence to support this - is sadly personal annecdote
at the weekend - i vistited an old friend who i have not senn for 30 years and reminiscence ensured .
one topic that came up wa a noted geological / geographic feature within walking distance of his house - that we used to play at some 40 years ago
for privacy purposes - no names or details - but suffice to say - it was // is a local attraction of note // noteriety
so after consuming much alcahol - we pledged - that first thing in the morning - we would go back up there and " re-live the dream "
of course - morning came - and being now sane and sensible 50 somethinfs - we rounded up a couple of bags of saftey kit and set off
now 40 years ago - we had a bit of washing line - and a pair of shorts
but the crux of the story is - that it [ our epic adventure zone of 4o years ago ] had shrunk
i mean seriously shrunk - i was last there at age 10 - and i have done a lot since then - and it was no longer the epic place i remembered
i have grown - i now stand 26cm taller and 28kg heavier
but the place had shrunk - almost beyoud recognition - yup the track leading to it was the same [ all-beit shorter and less steep ]
but the challenges were a shadow of thier former glory
leaps of faith that formed the stuff of epic dares - and led to tears and taunts - were now reduced to insignificant mole-hills
we had fun - but my lasting impression was " is that it "
of course - the curx of the matter is - what had changed ???
had an entire geological area " been shrunk " ????????
or were my 40 year old memories faulty ???????
as anyone who has read my contribtion to the berenstain and new zealand threads will probally guess :
my opinion is :
it did look big and svcary to a ten year old kid - who lacked the skills and esperience of my 2015 self - and my 40 year old memory has " stuck "
frozen in time and unaltered by the memories of things i have done since that as i say - make those 40 year ago dares look triffling .
what i did NOT do - is concoct a fantasy that it had shrunk - and i was now living in a different reality - where it was 1/4 the size i remembered
and there in is the difference - there are things we remember correctly - and things we dont - i remember the bridge leadsing to it being painted blue
[ and it still is - due to estate byelaws ] .
but i accept that my persceptions of scale and danger were different then - and had been memembered erroneously
i guess the thread - bottom line is :
man up and admit you can bbe wrong
dont be an arse and try to convince the world that there is a magic place where you are right
APE - OUT