Thoughts about the dreams

I looked back at my blog posts and found a post dated December 22, 2015 describing a previous dream about my mother. I'm struck by the fact the earlier dream also involved having paint on her head and being in a child-like state. I'd forgotten that entirely until I re-read it just now.

I tended to underestimate my Dad's considerable competence during his lifetime. At some point in time, I decided he was uncool and this judgment colored almost all my perceptions of him from then on. Today, my practice of mindfulness teaches me not to make gratuitous judgments. My Dad managed his life with intelligence and wisdom and negotiated its many hazards with great success. That's the truth and the truth is the teacher.

Dreams about my parents

I often dream about my parents. Usually in these dreams, they are very old and feeble. I've had similar dreams about my Grandfather Scott (Grandpapa) some time ago.

A few mornings ago, I dreamt about my mother. 

She is sitting on the floor of the living room at our old house in front of the picture windows looking like she's either ready for bed or just getting up. She has white paint in her hair. It's daytime. Mary Lou is in the room working on something and painters are painting in the kitchen. It seems to me the owners of the Massey's old house next door had caused some kind of damage and had sent people to make repairs to our house. As I come in the front door, Mom looks happy and says in a child-like manner, "Mary Lou got an invitation to the dance!" I'm thinking this must be an event at Iris Place and I say, "The dance is for people your age, Mom, did you get invited, too?" "I don't know," she says, looking a little confused. "But Mary Lou got an invitation!" 

This morning the dream was about my Dad. The setting also seems to be at their house in Athens, although not as clearly.

Dad is a much younger self, perhaps his age when he finished his Ph.D. (1951) and became an assistant professor at the University of Georgia. Dad is demonstrating for some people, maybe students or members of my current family, how to administer some kind of a test, perhaps a Stanford-Binet, to a child. He seems very competent and confident in himself as he goes about this task. 

The two dreams are very different. Dad has been deceased for almost 10 years while Mom's death still feels recent. I think about both of them often, how well life went for them, how happily they were married, how fortunate I was to have their care and their examples of how to live.

Life memes

What is possible for me to do within the limitations imposed on me? How do I bring out my best?

What cultures world-wide have been most successful in terms of peace, productivity and creative expression?

Dream (March 13, 2016)

I awoke around 4am and got up to eat a bowl of cereal. I started reading obituaries of people who have died in 2016. An hour or so later, I went back to sleep and had the following dream.

I was traveling to some kind of resort in a mountainous area. I rode a bicycle or moped up a long incline passing a few other cyclists until my momentum gave way and I dismounted. I kept walking a little ways until coming to a walkway. I entered a line of people on the walkway. It became a sort of elevated track which ended with an opening that appeared designed to all walkers to be picked up or to get on another form of transportation such as a bus or people mover. Neither was there, just a drop off too high to jump from. I said (aloud or to myself), “What do we do now?” Then someone came to pick up the people waiting. We were taken to the resort. Someone was choosing people to receive tickets to the next destination or perhaps an activity. I was selected and handed a string of cardboard tickets. After studying this, I saw arrows indicating where to tear off a single ticket which I did. A woman was asking why she wasn’t chosen. Later, I was taken in a car with some women to another place, an upscale country club. Another group  of women at the club were walking toward me as I sat on the curb, not knowing what was supposed to happen. I heard a woman speaking German so I said, “Guten abend!” I corrected this immediately to “Guten Morgen.” The woman I was addressing saw me and became angry, apparently because I was wearing shorts, which wasn’t allowed. I was taken prisoner by employees who took me into a medical clinic suite where a man injected my neck with a drug to render me unconscious. I wasn’t really alarmed and I said, “Unconscious works for me.” Later, I awoke and was released. I was being sent away. I heard two men saying the drug I was given “increases the risk of infections later on.” I asked about this and was told it happened several years down the line. I reassured myself saying, “Well, I have a strong immune system so maybe it won’t affect me much.”

Eternal life in a human body

"Where I go when I die, no man can tell."  John Lee Hooker

It's sad when people die, especially, when someone dies at an early age and loses the opportunity to achieve full expression of his or her potential and experience. I believe medical science will continue to make spectacular progress in curing diseases and generally finding ways to live longer and healthier lives. However, I'm skeptical about the idea of prolonging an individual life indefinitely, one way or another. Even if it were possible, I would not wish to do so. At some point, much as I am attached to myself and this existence, I would be ready to let go of the limitations imposed by the body, upon which my consciousness depends, and to find out what comes next.

All Star Jam Recap (Athens, GA, Thursday, March 2, 2016)

Hi, everyone, using skills honed in my previous job as an Under-Assistant West Coast Promotion Man, I’m filing this recap of last night’s All Star Jam hosted, as always, by the Reverend Conner Tribble​ and his Deacons. I’m sure I’ve left important people and things out of the report (please don't shoot me, I'm unarmed) but here’s everything I remember. Let me just say this was one of the most enjoyable of many memorable jams I’ve experienced over the past months down there at Athens’ infamous The Office Lounge​ (“Hey, honey, don’t cook supper, I’ll be working late at the office tonight, bahaha!” “Don’t think you’re fooling anyone, buddy, you want to go down and buy drinks from that excessively attractive bartender, Marissa Hockey.” “It’s Melissa Hockin​, baby.” “Whatever.”). So, things got going with the Right Reverend and his Deacons rocking some of my favorite songs (such as "We gotta get out of this place" and "No matter what") while I sat at the bar next to Michael Gibson​ discussing advanced pot stirring techniques and watching Georgia’s men’s basketball team pull out a win on the road against South Carolina (“Do it J.J., woo hoo!”) but wishing I was up there playing along. Just as the game ended, the band went into "Shake Senora" and I was seized with an uncontrollable urge to get up and shake it (btw, have you seen the film Beetlejuice?). Fortuitously for me, Martha Barry Kristin Pruet​, Lisa Mende​, and Paula Loniak​ were out on the floor dancing with one another, providing the perfect opportunity for me to jump in the line. For whatever reason, I took it that my name is Senora and my inhibition went MIA. After this brief manic episode passed, I had to sit and recover my breath for the remainder of the Deacons’ set.

The jam proper began with guitarists Larry Clinton​ and Ken Will Morton augmenting the Deacons to support Stefan Eberhard’s deft vocals. Shortly thereafter, I was excited to see a person I’ve truly missed,  David​ “the Blues Executioner” Herndon, arriving with his ax (that’s a pun, people, ok, a bad pun, then).  At about the same time, blues diva Caroline Aiken showed up with an entourage of talented young ladies who took turns demonstrating their artistry. The duet known as the Pussy Willows (not to be confused with Pussy Riot) blew me away with their vocal harmonies and first-rate guitar accompaniment.

Prior to that, I had been chatting with old friend and drummer Norman Hardin about pain management (his day job) and now Dr. Norman took a turn on the drums, giving the amazing Deane Quinter​ time to hang out with the crowd. Meanwhile, David, Larry, Ken Will and your humble narrator (i.e., me) seized the chance to get into the act. The heroic Greg Veale sang a blues tune dedicated to his mother and then the gang played "Satisfaction" and "Roll Over Beethoven" (which I got to sing!). First-timer Norman acquitted himself admirably. Next (I think this was the order), with Deane back behind the kit, Caroline performed "Pride and Joy", during which all the electric guitarists took a crack at solos (we live for those moments, you know) followed by "Dixie Chicken" (which I need to go back and study but it still rocked).  Then, a whole bevy of beautiful and talented ladies took turns as lead vocalist: birthday girl Stephanie Grey Reavis singing Blondie’s "Heart of glass" and the viral hit, "Happy"; Danna Whaley on "Johnny B. Goode" and "the Letter", my not-so-secret crush (take a number, pal), Lisa Mende, performing "My boyfriend’s back" and "Then he kissed me" (sigh), Paula Loniak doing "Twist and shout" and "Paint it black." Are these great songs or what?

As the time that all goods things must end approached, Conner stated that he owed me another song. I don’t know that he owed me anything but who am I to argue? Now, on the day of each All Star Jam I attend, I give serious thought to what I want to sing if my number is called. So, I asked, “Can we do "Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat"? Please?” As it turned out, no persuasion was necessary. Conner explained that Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde is one of his “winter albums” and he would gladly go with my selection. What fun to sing lines like, “I don’t mind him cheating on me but I sure wish he’d take that thing off his head!” I was done playing after that, so I stepped down and from the dance floor, with a game Martha Barry attempting to follow my erratic steps, enjoyed the last tune from the Deacons, "Under the boardwalk."  Wind down time is required after jamming, of course, and it was great to do it chatting with my alternative Universe soulmate, Kathy Betts Tate​, and our fabulous friends, Crystal​ and Pat Nunnally​, still the world’s cutest couple. Once more, a million thanks to Conner Tribble for making all this joyous lunacy possible.  You are the best, mon ami!