Vacation Eyes

The importance of staring out the window is vastly underrated. As a kid, on winter days I’d sit on the radiator and daydream while watching the colorful skaters on the pond down my street. On spring days I’d come home from school and just sit on the floor of my bedroom, leaning against my bed while staring at the motion of the green leaves blowing on the trees. At night I loved to turn off all the lights and stare at my fish tank lit up in my dark bedroom.

I require lots of daydreaming. My sister and I would play tag with the neighborhood boys and after a few minutes I’d sneak off and hang out in the treehouse to daydream. They’d continue chasing each other for hours. Not much has changed. I’m still daydreaming in my treehouse and most people I know are out there chasing stuff.

I have never needed a passport. There’s cool stuff going on right in your own neighborhood that you would think is amazing if you traveled 3,000 miles on a vacation to see it. Pretend you did. Put on your new eyes, vacation eyes, and with the money and time you’ve saved on air fare and shlepping, go get a cup of tea and watch people in your neighborhood walk by for a few hours. Daydream without guilt.

When I was about seven I was already spending tons of time alone and loving it. My mother was convinced I was a mentally disturbed loner! I had a game where I would stare at an ordinary everyday household object like my morning orange juice glass and I’d stare at it until I didn’t know what it was, who I was, or where I was. It took about three minutes. It worked with the most ordinary things; a comb, a shoe, a fork, a toothbrush, a pencil, a chair. Who needs drugs? I was stoning myself. Don’t try this while driving!