Forgetful with a good Memory

Just two days ago, I posted here of remembering a photo that I had taken 6 years ago. Some commented that it was indicative of good memory, which is the opposite of what I often post about, for I am also a forgetful sort of chap. 

In this case, not only did I remember the old photo, but I also recognized that it must be the same lady that we had just seen again in the present. I made the connection even though we hadn't met and spoken back then, for I had photographed her rather surreptitiously from a distance.

Here ↓ it is again for reference.

Yes, that ↑ was 6 years ago, but I must confess that I had thought that it was only 3 years. I guess it's true what they say: Time flies when you're having fun.

So, how is it that I write about being forgetful, as I did here describing a day with Jonathan, and, subsequently, even posted a tee-shirt↓  but then remember a photo from 6 years ago? The two things — forgetting and remembering — don't seem to jive.

For one thing, I have probably come across the photo of the lady and the dog once or twice since then. For another thing, I think it's a whole different sort of memory. After all, there can be a lot that goes into a photo; it's not always a quick snap that one never thinks about again. First, I took the picture; then I edited it. After that I posted the image in more than one place, including this blog. You see, it wasn't just a random snap that I completely forgot about the moment that I pressed the shutter.

Now, contrast that with the day with JJ when, among other things, I forgot to get the potatoes from his place when I was picking him up. At the time, I had other things to remember such as where to take him for breakfast and what other things we might do that day.

In point of fact and in some sense at least, I think that I actually have a pretty good memory. However, at the same time, I am also absent-minded when it comes to mundane, daily tasks. My brain gets wrapped up in other things than what it would be good to be thinking about at any given time, and I my temporarily lose my place, so to speak. It's not so much that I forget about the thing entirely (whatever the thing of the moment happens to be), but that other things move in and occupy my brain in the meantime.

At some point, something often triggers the thing back into memory. It's not like it was gone completely for all of eternity, but that it just got shunted aside for awhile. I do tend remember the thing when my brain gets back around to it. It's not that I necessarily forever forget that I should have picked up the potatoes, but more that I didn't remember at the most convenient moment, like when I was actually there where the potatoes were.

In other words, I am an absent-minded, wool-gathering sort of guy, suffering from temporary but not usually permanent amnesia.

I don't think that I am describing it very well, but this is probably the best that I can do at the moment, and I hope that reconciles the apparent contradiction a little bit. I think that I have a pretty good memory, for some things at least, but I often temporarily misplace things in my head until something or other dredges them back to the surface from the deep recesses of my puny brain.

=================

Addendum: an example of absent-mindedness that is not exactly forgetfulness.

Last evening: I took my water flask downstairs to fill it with cold water from the pitcher in the fridge. I did just that and then saw that I needed to pick up and rinse the cat's dish. After that, of course, I proceeded to come upstairs without the water. Also, of course, I remembered straightaway  to go back down. This morning, I also remember that this thing happened. Now that I have posted of this, I will likely remember the incident for a little while, at least. I do this kind of thing quite a lot, but when I don't think about it and write about it, I can't remember too many similar incidents.