03:25 - 07/01/2009
Dreamer
Happy Canada Day, everyone!
There was an extraordinarily beautiful sunset tonight, courtesy of a volcanic eruption in Russia, so says NASA. Shades of purple, magenta and deepest rose. The new neighbours, on the west side of my home, emerged on their front porch to watch. They're still out there now. I'm still just observing them, but they are the closest to a normal family dynamic I've seen in a very long time, living in that home. Well, the late night activity isn't, but it seems as though the parents may both work night shift. Regular arrival at home week nights is around 1:30 to 2 in the am. I know that, because their children arrive with them and they are quite noisy. Having raised six sons, noise levels don't really bother me unless the sound is angry or violent in some way. These people just seem to really enjoy each others' company enough that they want to spend all their free time together. I can deal with that. Hopefully their night owl proclivities are the only "unusual" thing about them.
Since I'm up anyway, I thought I'd quickly record my dreams, before I forget too much of the detail. The diaper dream was really brief, because I was woken by those neighbours that night too around 2 in the am. All I recall was that I was trying to remember how to properly fold the real old-fashioned gauze diapers that I used for my guys. Paper diapers were just way too expensive when they were small to indulge in and I felt that the cloth ones were better for them anyway. They had to be changed frequently so that their skin wasn't compromised by the "output", you see. I have great concern about the paper ones that promise hours of "dryness" by the addition of special chemicals. I'm not comfortable that that is in the baby's best interest, healthwise. Just my opinion, of course. Anyway, there seemed to be a baby fussing a bit somewhere close by, so the distraction of trying to accommodate their needs was distracting me from focussing entirely on what I was doing. Finally figured it out just before I woke, though.
The harbour dream was fascinating and seemed to go on for a very long time. The feeling was that we were in Africa somewhere. Rich, red soil underfoot and hot steamy days, with a tropical forest hemming us in along the west coast of the continent. There were some passages in to the inland, but they seemed to be unpredictable in their upkeep. The settlement was brand new and appeared to be made up entirely of women. The area designated for the harbour didn't fit my idea of a normal port, being that it seemed too open and unprotected. Just a straight approach in from the ocean - no curvature of the beach nor the depth that I thought would be needed for ships to arrive at the future docks. But then, I am born and raised in one of the only two land-locked provinces in this country. What do I know? Anyway, the leader of our colony and of the construction of that harbour was Queen Elizabeth II, herself, in person. That made me feel quite confident though.
You see, the first real knowledge I had of her Majesty was through a wartime, WW II, book that was in my grandparent's home. It showed the princess, Elizabeth, in coveralls, spanner (wrench) in hand, working under the hood of a jeep. The text indicated that as part of the extraordinary demands of wartime, she and her sister, Margaret, regularly took part in activities that supported the war effort in mainland Europe and included the, at the time, unheard of inclusion of women in the technical trades' workforce. From that influence at a very early age, that imagery has always uderpinned my own self-image/concept in that it "proved" that women could be competent at things typically deemed male occupations. I have always been very grateful for that quiet, do-as-I-do leadership from her. Of course, anyone who loves horses is always a star in my firmament anyway.
To continue though, there appeared to be the ability, technologically, for the group of us to dredge the proposed harbour. There didn't seem to be that many women, but all of us had been trained to do our parts well and been supplied with the tools that would allow success, if only we could sustain our efforts. The colony seemed to be secret in some way and also protected from outside intterference. Her Majesty was also the architect of the harbour plans, and as I looked at them, I had a flashback to Henry VIII and his building of various ports and ships during his reign nearly 500 years ago. This effort seemed to be part of a long continuance of that pattern. We spent a lot of time working with those plans, taking the time to ensure every single detail was developed and implemented with precision and great care. The pilings for the piers that we were assembling were intriguing. Sturdy oak they were, but there were numerous hand-cut pieces, almost like a jigsaw puzzle only wooden, that fitted into each other as tightly as proper gloves. I saw myself examining them with awe as our team was assembling one set, just before they were installed. Her Majesty was explaining the reasons for the choice of materials as well as for their construction, as we worked together on the project. I was awakened then and resented it, because I wanted to learn all that she could teach me about her craft. Sigh.
The third dream was interrupted by the neighbour's noisy activities too, but I think I might be glad of that. One of the friends I had through late elementary school to the end of high school was a rather spoiled and strange child. She might have been the female dopplerganger of Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter series, in terms of the spoiling she received by her parents. She could do no wrong and felt she was entitled to the first and best of everything, as a result. She included me in her entourage, because I was already well known as a successful tutor, even for peers who were really struggling with different academic studies. My parents encouraged me to help as many people as I could and that was a large part of my perception of myself, with relation to my social milieu as a child. I didn't really see why anyone would like or value my company, otherwise. Yes, I did have big self-esteem issues growing up, but that isn't part of this dream. Anyway, she committed suicide on one of her milestone birthdays as an adult. She had finally come to realize that she couldn't make the rest of the world treat her and worship her like her parents did. Waste of a life. The dream seemed to be set in the present. Even though she was dead, I was still visiting with her Mom. Her sibling's children were also visiting their grandmother. I had been invited to meet the one grand-daughter. When I saw her, I realized that she was the exact image of her aunt - my girlfriend - when she was a child. Except.. she had a huge brown birthmark that covered her one temple. Her grandmother seemed to be asking me why it was there and how to remove it. I'm not certain why she thought I would know, but it also seemed as though I did have the answer. I was feeling very sad and quite worried though, about the safety and up-bringing of the child. Something wasn't right, but I couldn't figure out why. Then the neighbours woke me up and I was relieved.
Anyway time to get back to bed, dear diary, the neighbours have just retired for the night and so then can I.
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