The black-and-white ambiance of autumn

November 5th

I went back to having naps whenever I can since it started to get darker and colder in the afternoons. And I had a wonderful nap this afternoon — I wasn't fully asleep, but my conscience was drifting here and there without much of a worry in sight. I felt a pleasurable sensation of warmth moving from my midriff to my legs and arms. It felt like quiet paralyzing laziness took over my body and mind and I let it just be like that at that moment. I was content with every second of it.

Then I opened my eyes and immediately knew that something was wrong. Everything I could see was in black and white only. There was no color, not even a sliver of anything beyond the intermediate hue between black and white. I looked at the watch, and it was only 4 pm. I took my phone and took the photo (as above) to make sure of the surrounding colors. I thought that maybe it was just my eyes that deceive me. But no, I looked at the screen, and it was just as black and white as I could see in front of me.

I first thought that the world underwent a transformation when I was enjoying a nap. That the whole world had changed its visual aspect and lost all the colors, with only black and white remaining. That made me sad, but it seemed like a new reality — I couldn't imagine the reason or a way for not seeing colors at 4 pm in my bedroom. Even at night, there is some slight yellowish tint light snicking in from the streetlights outside. I decided to get up and still, until I reached for a light switch, only black and white colors surrounded me. And then a relief — the moment I switched the lights on, everything regained its normal visual appearance.

My mood evened out quickly as I went around the house to make sure that all the colors returned to their predesignated places and items. All was normal again. Except, I felt a little disappointed — having a world only in black and white would be an adventure and a new excitement for me. I don't know how would other people react to it, but I tend not to worry about things like that anymore. It would be pretty interesting for me until the novelty would wear off, or until the next spring when I wouldn't be able to enjoy the colors of the flowers.

Oh well, at least I got to experience a curious couple of moments at an unexpected time and place.