Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1949-05-28
This and That
By Charles z. Traceirell

Iempleton Jones had blind spot the
other morning.
The spot was an entire lady.
Jones sat down in her lap. thinking the
seat on the public vehicle was empty.
1t was the strangest feeling, Jones said
afterWard,4 to realize by degrees that what
he was seated on vas not seat but knees
Always gallant. Tempelton Jones sprang
up, bowed. and said to the lady:
II beg your pardon. madam; didn't
know you were there s sss ~ gas
The apology was accepted graciously by
the laughing lady.
Everybody else smiled. too. including the
gallant Jones'.
IT sure had blind spot that time. didn't
n" he said to the lady.
That impromptu cushion. being very mod
est and shy laughed in confusion, but
agreed instantly.
Minutes later Jones grinned to himself
over the small affair. And probably the
woman did. too.
The classic instance Of the blind spot is
in one of Poe's tales, where the teller thinks
he sees a strange monster on the horizon.
Actually the thing" is mere bug on
the windowpane. out Of which the narrator
was looking.
This sort of blind spot is probably due
u
After all. seeing is due to the brain.
The center of sight is q real prolongation
of brain tissue and what we see is always
colored by the imagination. That Is why
unimaginative people fail to see what others
do and why they 50 often grow impatient
with the visions as they call them, Of the
more imaginative.
The late Howard Lovecraft, whose mag
NATIVE tales are more widely known since
his death than during his lifetime. had
dreams, apparently. utterly unlike those OF
more sedate persons
His dreams were actually visions. whereas
most Of our average dreams are based solidly
on indigestion. or lying upon the back. with
resulting undue pressure on the internal
organs.
The Lovecraft dreams were wholly mental
In motivation. Apparently there was very
fine dividing line between what he saw. In
dreams. and what he could imagine when
awake.
Templeton Jones has plenty of imagina-
ton. He keeps looking for the unexpected
in every day. and often finds It, where less
imaginative men would think nothing OF
It," actually.
The fence along the sidewalk intrigues
him. All people who walk by see the fence.
but probably Jones alone. Of them all. sees
the lines of the palings forming a pattern
Or maybe all of them who walk see the
pattern. too, but If they do they do not rec
ognize it as pattern at the very time they
see 1t.
1t was so with Templeton Jones. years ago.
when he stood in front doorway over in
Georgetown after big storm. when a rain
bow was forming. He watched the water
drip of the leaves. and saw the pattern
Of the water dropping OF the leaves.
He recalls how he felt that somehow he
ought to be able to put the whole scene down
in words, so that no shred of II could be
missed by any reader.
And he remembers keenly how he sud
denly realized. ut that very moment that
the thing was impossible. that no living
being could say or write the true meaning
of that scene ut that time. but that this was
no reason for one not trying to put into
words the glory and wonder Of what one
Sees and that such glories and wonders need
not be explosive glories or wonders. nor
world shocking. but need be. and indeed
often are nothing more than the little
things most people disregard and so discard
Today Templeton Jones realizes that this
Is just what he has been doing, sll these
years, keeping alive for a few minutes, at
least. the everyday wonder that so many
people miss unless it Is pointed out 70 them
This Is good thing TO do. he believes. II
has its drawbacks. though. ut times. Maybe
that was what Templeton Jones was DOING
when he had q blind spot and sat GAVIN
Ill Unexpectedly In the lady's lap. So bury
hnokfng for the UNEXPECTED that he found Is.