What A Dream

Ever since Joseph in Genesis, and probably a lot longer than that, there have been folks who claimed to interpret dreams.  Not sure I would put much faith in them, but I know they would have a ball with a dream I had last night.  It was a ring-tailed doozy   that left me exhausted, frustrated, and wound so tight there was no chance of even thinking about going back to sleep any time soon.

I normally don’t remember dreams, and parts of this one are missing, but for any budding Dr. Freud out there, here are the highlights:

It all began when Honey and I and another couple were headed to an event in downtown Houston – possibly at Jones Hall – and decided to stop for barbeque sandwiches.  We stopped at a dive on West Dallas and the first clue that it was actually located in Dreamland came when we walked through the door.  The entrance doubled as a barber shop where a large black woman was watching the barber give her son a trim.  Since this was a dream, none of us thought this was unusual and we went on through to the restaurant.

We each ordered sliced beef sandwiches, but when the order came there were only three.  When I could get no help from the waiter, I went to the window and demanded our other sandwich.  The chef said that there were other orders ahead of mine, so I would have to wait.  I screamed at him that my order was ahead of theirs and if they could count to four he would know it.

Somehow, the stand holding their American flag got broken and the flag, with a huge gold eagle at the top of the pole began to topple.  At this point, the manager arrived and, digging in the sink drain, retrieved and presented me with a silver chain with a large medallion in the shape of a map of Texas. The medallion had a stone, but unlike Navajo jewelry, it wasn’t turquoise, it was opal.

The others were through eating by now, so I told them to go on and I would meet them at the theater. 

That’s when my strange odyssey really began. 

Over the next (minutes? hours?) I

1. Got stuck in a field growing artificial turf .  The stuff was waist high and clung to my clothes like velcro!  I was rescued by two men on horseback who said they could take me to my destination, but only after they got off work.
2. Helped two attractive young ladies in Hooters shorts  and University of Texas jerseys haul an expensive-looking racing wheelchair up the banks of Buffalo Bayou to the sidewalk along Allen Parkway.
3. Took a shortcut through a foundry casting blanks to be made into oilfield valves.  It must have been Bring Your Child To Work Day, because there were several little kids wandering around the place.
4. Watched two huge men in front of a block of 5th Ward row houses in a fight-to-the-death with long-handled flat-blade shovels.
5. Watched a three-way drag race between guys driving souped-up farm tractors.  One was a Ford, one a John Deere and one I didn’t recognize although it was the only one with steel spike wheels with no tires.  They generated so much smoke that I can’t tell you who won.

There was also an incident involving motorcycles and eighteen-wheelers, but what happened must not have been very important – or maybe too traumatic? -since I’ve already forgotten any details.

During my travels I found myself on the west and northwest sides of Downtown, and even as far southeast as Gulfgate Mall.  I never made it into downtown Houston at all, and I awoke long before I made it to the concert. 

When I did wake up, I was short of breath, and my pulse was racing. My legs were cramping and would barely hold me up when I got out of bed. I was tired, I was frustrated and I was angry.

I finally did get back to (uneventful) sleep, but I got up this morning feeling like I had walked to Dallas – or at least Conroe – last night.