Strangest Dream

I went to bed one night and soon found myself in a line of passengers waiting to board a train.

I had been experimenting with dream control at the time, after realizing that we spend a third of our lives unconscious, and I’d had some success, but it was an on-going learning process. For example, the hardest part was finding a way to realize that I was dreaming; in time, I found that if I felt like I had to urinate, but there were no bathrooms around, it was a dream. Also, once I did realize I was dreaming, I had a tendency to immediately wake up, which I learned to overcome by focusing on the dream’s surroundings. I was having flying dreams and such, but this one took it to a new level.

There were four or five young boys in the line ahead of me, and I asked them if they’d like to see some magic. They looked at me like I was some kind of crack-pot, of course, and I found myself saying, “Watch this!” and then I woke myself up. Strange, indeed.

I know that dreams don’t extend beyond the confines of our own minds, but there’s a little part of me that wonders if there are some boys somewhere, in some other realm, standing around scratching their heads after witnessing an old man vanish before their eyes.

haiku 119

the flooded river

seems to erupt and explode

in the morning sun

–photo by me

beaver cinquain

beaver

buck-toothed, web-footed

gnawing, slapping, constructing

a dammed river dweller

rodent

–photos by me

beaver cinquain

beaver

buck-toothed, web-footed

gnawing, slapping, constructing

a dammed river dweller

rodent

–photos by me

dream dance

it began

when we danced

in the field

that day;

we became

so entranced

with each

other’s display,

we danced

to the splendor

of a beautiful

dream,

and enhanced

our surrender

to life’s

grander scheme

–photo/art by me

turkeys (shadorma)

some turkeys

brutally attack

others to

establish

their god-given mating rights–

like real turkeys

–photo by me

Deluge

My son Aaron and I didn’t plan on ever returning to North Dakota, but we heard about all the flooding in the Red River Valley, so we had to go check it out, despite the dangerous road conditions. We were about ready for an adventure, anyway, and what is an adventure without a little risk involved?

As we got closer to the river, the rain started coming down hard, and the water kept rising. Everything was underwater…everything!

Soon the fields were becoming lakes, and water began creeping up unto the roads. We considered turning around, but we were almost there.

Right after I took this photo, the water started to gush across the road, and I could hardly stand in the 70 mph wind gusts. Now we had no choice but to forge ahead.

This isn’t a lake–it’s farmers’ submerged fields as far as the eye can see. We turned around, defeated by Mother Nature once again.

Driving back (on a different road), it was so other-worldly to be flying down this thin strip of tar in the middle of the ocean. Spooky, even. We might not have made it to the river, but it was the first time in my life that the waves in the ditch were cresting and breaking!

–Photos by me