People, Places, and Things

     As my thoughts were meandering today, I came across The Sleeping Giant (mountain), The Crazy Mountains, Native American stories, my daughter standing on the couch when she was four, and hoarders. Here is how it all works out in the metamorphosis of the oral tradition in America.
 
   The Crazy Mountains are clearly visible while driving down Park Street from my house to where my parents live. I was thinking of all the different stories that I have heard over the years about how they got their name. If it weren't for those mountains being in plain sight so often, I am sure I would have forgotten the stories. Here is one version if you would like to add it to your library of interesting stuff to know.

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The mountains, although I did not fully understand it before, were a memory palace of sorts. They are the visual cue that allows me to remember those stories.
   
    Now we must go back 14 years to when my baby girl was only 4 years old. She was standing on the couch facing out the window which beautifully framed a breathtaking view of the Sleeping Giant. (I miss that apartment sometimes.) She called me over, pointed out the window and began to tell me a story, "When I was a boy" she said pointing to the mountains, "I used to hunt elk up there". This was a bit disturbing since to my knowledge she had never been a boy or gone hunting. I let her finish her story and of course thanked her for sharing it with me and immediately called my dad to see if he had told her the tale and she was relating it back to me. He assured me he did not, and I never found out where she came up with it. Perhaps she was just inspired by the view. I still think of my darling little girl and smile when I see those mountains. I had always loved them, but this added one more reason to look up at them.

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    This takes us back even further to the Native Americans before they were relocated on reservations. While reading Moonwalking With Einstein, I thought of my mountain stories when the author talked about the Native American myths. When they were displaced, the Native Americans must have lost much of their culture just because they had a drastic change in place. They could no longer tell the stories that were attached to places and have the visual cues that would have allowed them to be passed on and remembered by future generations. If I were never able to see the Crazy Mountains, I would probably forget the stories surrounding them. I may remember more clearly the Sleeping Giant story, because it has more meaning for me personally. So, before the Native Americans were forced into "Indian Schools" and made to dress and speak like white people, before they were told to give up their stories and replace them with the Bible, they had already suffered a great loss. They were forced from their memory palaces.

    What does all this have to do with hoarders? Well, it's simple really. People tend to hold on to objects because when they see them they are reminded of how they got it. For seriously mentally ill people who are in the worst stages of hoarding this is probably not true. However, for some people this seems to be how it all starts. Not that I am a psychologist or anything close to it. Most people hold on to trinkets and things that remind them of a friend or a fun experience. I had a pressed flower a friend gave me for many years, and I tend to collect memorable objects. I have a necklace that my Grandmother often wore that I would not give up for a king's ransom. People need places and things to remember sometimes. I assure you, I would never forget my Gram if I got rid of the dime store necklace she wore, but when I see it or touch it, it's like I am there in her little log house looking up at her as she sits in her favorite chair. It is comforting and the necklace brings back a flood of memories of her. When I have it on or I just glance at where it hangs, I tend to do what any good oral traditionalist would and tell my daughter a story about the wonderful woman who I loved so much.

    To wrap things up a bit, people still use the old ways to remember stories and events. It seems that it is a natural process which is probably why it works so well. Further, it's okay to collect objects that hold memories, just don't end up being like the people on those television shows about hoarding. With that thought, I am going to go clean my house again. (Yes that was meant to be funny.)