Spectral Highlights

It was, after all, the sixties. Dropping acid was not an uncommon endeavor. Phyllis and I had each taken a tab of acid and driven toward Mount Tamalpais north of the Golden Gate Bridge. We had stopped to appreciate the view of the Pacific Ocean. It was mid afternoon, the day was sunny with just the slightest hint of haze in the air. The view was, as was to be expected, spectacular, sun and sea and sky and the foothills down to the water. The expanse of ocean captivating. Sunlight glinted from the surface of the water.

I said "Just look at all those spectral highlights".

"What is a spectral highlight" she asked.

I thought briefly of explaining using photographic terms that they were small highly exposed areas caused by the reflection of the sun from shiny surfaces, surrounded by darker image areas, in this case the unreflecting area of the ocean. But before launching into the technical explanation I turned, as though the action had been preplanned, looked down, bent over and picked up a photo that someone had dropped at the same vista turnout. I held up the photo, a polaroid photo of the same view we were appreciating, and pointed to the little overexposed spots of the reflections on the water in the photo.

"These are spectral highlights." I said pointing to that very thing in the photo before again turning to the view. It did not, at the time, seem incongruous or contrived to either of us that a photo littering there would act as a prop for our exchange. Phyllis made no later mention of the event and for me it faded into just another facet of the sixties. Only later did the synchronicity of the event seep in to me. It still surfaces occasionally when I think of things that are not readily explained by science, things that seem just too coincidental, events that poke me in the ribs and demand "Explain that".