The brain, the smartest and most amazing thing of all

I am 60 and lose my keys, wallet, Blackberry and my Leatherman knife as frequently as I used to which is to say a lot. I'm more aggravated than worried it portends anything ominous because it happens to my friends, many of them considerably younger (BTW, I look and feel 20, well maybe 30, alright, let's settle on  50!).

I recently lost my Leatherman knife (a Wave) which I wear in a sheath on my belt. I had the empty sheath, but had used the knife and put it down somewhere. The Wave is indispensable and I use several times a day.

I wracked my brain, checked the usual places and retraced my steps from the previous two days. Nothing. It was frustrating. Anyhow, I was riding my bicycle this morning, daydreaming and taking in the Fall colors. Bing! I remembered using the knife to cut some edging on a table I was repairing. I left it on top of a water tank in the basement where it could have sat for months, years or for all eternity.

I was struck that trying hard to remember yielded zippo. But when I was daydreaming about something else, repairing the table crept into my consciousness and within a second I knew where I had left the knife. I couldn't wait to get home and find it which I did.

Without getting scientific, I figured that bit of data in my memory must have been buried by something that lifted as I pedaled along. Or some connection between the memory and my consciousness was established or re-established. This happens to most everyone, but I was struck by the randomness of the knife's location coming back to me. It was wonderful.

Tell me your amazing brain stories and don't forget, follow me on Twitter.

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com