One of the great mysteries of the mind is how it recreates an incident long forgotten, then suddenly reappears, and for no reason you and I can possibly understand - do read on:
In 1975, I remember going to New York to witness a Horowitz recital at Carnegie Hall, and got there the day before the event.
That evening, I decided to take a stroll not far from where I was staying, and it was just about total darkness, when a gentleman, dressed in a black overcoat and a black hat pulled down over his brow, with his head down, and with a leash attached to a black Poodle, approached at a fairly brisk pace, then went by - it was Vladimir Horowitz.
All of the following took place in just a few seconds:
My mind raced with the following issues- at that time I then reminded myself that Horowitz did not live far from this location, knowing his address. Please believe me when I state that I had totally forgotten about his place of residence until that very moment. Then the question slammed into me - should I turn and attempt to greet him, and if so, what should I say? Was he in a contemplative mode, going over his recital of the next day? Would he have been cordial? Or just the opposite?? Would I have been stupid making the attempt?
Then the sober reality of the demons that he faced before so many of his concerts instructed me to just move on.
I DID look back, however, for one last glimpse of a giant who had just passed me by- he had disappeared around a corner not far back of me.
All of the above, in just a few seconds...
Strange; how such shards of memory re-emerge.
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