[treeface9000]

For me, it's much harder to visualize with my eyes closed (not impossible, just not as easy)... when I close my eyes, it's mostly black with some kind of overlay of what I was last looking at -- like burn-in on a screen.

But with my eyes open I can imagine up the elephants or anything else just as detailed as those that I saw in person (either via recall of what I have seen or imagining up something new). I've never given any thought to this... but now trying to explain that I can see something with my eyes open while still seeing whatever I am looking at at the same time sounds really odd. I wonder if the visual stimulation and recall are somehow linked, or maybe I just need to practice with my eyes closed.