551

That's how many of my steps it takes from the door of the house I'm occupying this week to the beach. 

Yes.  I counted them.  Out of curiosity, not out of an obsession for counting...though I do have that.  I often find myself subconsciously counting things...like the # of panes in a window, or the stripes on a wall, or tiles on the floor or stairs to a landing.   I also find myself mentally tracing lines and shapes and patterns through bricks, wood planks, wallpaper designs, etc.  Are these normal behaviors?  Does every mind operate this way or is it just mine?

I wonder if it's the same kind of brain function that causes me to "see" words in my mind.  What I mean is...I don't naturally see the "thing" which the word represents.  I first see the word itself...the written "composed" word before an image of the thing presents itself.  Is it similar to my compulsion to diagram sentences in my head?

I think all these behaviors may be related to my need to find order and structure in all of life.  I need to see the way things fit together and understand the relation of "this" to "that."  It's the way my mind makes sense of things.

And yes.  That means that when I indulge myself in a bag of M&M's or Skittles I visually, if not literally, sort them by color, just as I do my socks in the drawer.  Yes...of course they all have to face the same direction.

OK!  Enough already.  I begin to think myself deranged!

But you'll excuse me...I have 551 steps to walk to enjoy today's sunset.