...The camel...

Surreal: Having an oddly dreamlike quality.

Surrealism: (origin) French, Sur=beyond, Realieme=realism


Escher, Mirrormask (watch it if you haven't), City of Lost Children, Alice, the sound of loons at night, a warm, windy night in january.

Surreal things always give me a wierd feeling. Somehow, I feel more comfortable knowing that there are some things beyond human control, and beyond human explanation. Even if it is initially created by a human, be it artwork, or literature, or movies, something that is really surreal takes on a life of its own. If you have a truly surreal experience, it takes away, for a moment, your assumptions about life.

Two summers ago, I woke up in my tent in the Addirondacks, just in time to see the fire I had dowsed for the night flare up again. Simultaneously, two loons living on the pond I was camped by began to cy out. First together, then alternating the same, warbling, crazy noises. At the same time the fire flared. Almost the second I woke up. In the middle of the night. I half expected some bizzare creature with long legs, and an air of total wierdness to stalk onto the clearing. I honestly would not have been surprised. The odd thing about it is that I wasn't scared by it. It actually made me feel happy, exhilerated. Like things were the way they're supposed to be. Like not everything can be explained.