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June 22, 2009
"I blame the jetlag..."
"I'll take two". 1920s Guignol puppet theatre which folds up like a suitcase (T. Bradford photo)
Jetlag. Is it harmless? I have friends who travel all over the world for a living. They loathe and battle it. You forget things. You insult store clerks while trying to be friendly. It also makes you buy weird things.
Monday. Ah, devil jetlag. I have had some lately.
I get it going East, mainly. Three hours difference in time zones is enough. To Europe. Within North America. It doesn't matter. But you can't let it screw up your work--so you don't. You become a tourist on the first day there. You see obscure religious art. You meet women named Zoe and Tasha. You buy stuff.
"Jetlag" is a disturbance of one's circadian rhythms. It makes you hear, think, say, do and even see odd things. You forget things. You insult store clerks while trying to be friendly (i.e., asking Paris bakers if the bread is really fresh--which I have done). Or you are irritable. To some, you just seem "out of it". Your wife thinks you are acting strangely. So does your girlfriend.
Jetlag first attracted the attention of science in the "behavior" of plants. In 1729, French astronomer Jean Jacques Ortous de Mairan studied heliotrope plants to determine if the opening and closing of the leaves was simply a response to the sun:
To do so, he confined a plant to the dark. The daily rhythmic motions of the heliotrope's leaves persisted even in the absence of sunlight.
So maybe jetlag is ingrained and strong--but is it harmless? I have friends who travel all over the world for a living. They loathe and battle it.
Like other forms of mild mood swings, it may even be a source of inspiration. But trust me--I've done it--it also makes you buy weird things.
See Tara Bradford's piece last year in Paris Parfait. I've purchased things in Europe, South America and Port Austin, Michigan that make the above "puppet theatre" item look like a useful and best-selling household appliance.
Posted by JD Hull at June 22, 2009 11:59 PM