Now, as I was saying

The post I made earlier about seeing reality unadulterated by personal filters was itself adulterated. It couldn't help but be.

Even our efforts to see past or around our filters are bound to be contaminated by these filters. In my case, that's a wall of glass 54 years thick, tinted not only by all the things that happened in my life, but

• all the things I think happened, but maybe didn't;


• all the conclusions I've drawn from the real experiences, plus all the conclusions I've drawn from things I think happened, but didn't;


• plus all the assumptions I've made based on the conclusions I've drawn.

Finding the truth in there is like trying to find a particular pair of socks somewhere in that huge and ever-present pile of laundry in my bathroom.

But I'm pretty sure I never even imagined inviting anyone to move to the Ozarks. Other than that, that anonymous comment seemed entirely plausible.