Monday, December 19, 2022

Lullaby of Dreamland



So if you happen to be one of those individuals who thinks discussing dreams is boring or self-indulgent, read no further! Although this post is not exclusively about my dreams...

The above drawing is to (sorta) illustrate an image from a recent dream. I won't go into all the various details except to explain that I was staying at some beach-side resort and was called outside two different times by two different family members to view the very odd clouds that were forming in the sky. One of the family members was my/our long deceased father (aka "Daddy"). He was pretending to hold the clouds up by extending his arms high into the sky. I attempted to photograph my father and the clouds but the camera wasn't working... maybe because Daddy is/was dead? Who knows! But in this "waking life", I tried drawing them but they were hard to capture. They were vaguely geometric and superimposed over the conventionally cloudy sky.

But this leads to a brief consideration of several quirky dream comments. The first is that I have dream motifs that reoccur frequently... and no, they're not your classic like flying or being naked in a odd setting. I often dream about trying to locate something to wear in a huge heap of clothes. I mean, I have this image really often. No idea what that's about.

The second frequent story line is my having to pee but either there's no bathroom available, or there's some weird issue like there is no door on the bathroom, or there's a whole bunch of people hanging out, interrupting my need to piss. Or it's out of order and only a hole in the floor. Not sure where that comes from...

And the last one is setting. I am often at a school or college. Lots of classic brick dormitory buildings or cafeterias. And then I dig through a pile of clothes and need to pee but the bathrooms been moved...

Hahhahaha! I made you read all about my dreams. But the last thing I'm going to mention is how Bob and I frequently have dreams that have the same things in them- not identical, like we've changed the locations but have some piece of the dream the same. I mean, we are sleeping with our heads only a foot or two apart. F'rinstance, Bob will say, "I was wearing a bright red jacket in my dream". And I'll say, "I saw a person wearing a red jacket". Or I'll say, "I was in a small boat on a pond in my dream". And Bob will say, "There was a person painting a boat in mine!" You get the idea. I asked a friend if this ever happened to her and her husband. She replied, "All the time". So I guess it's not out of the ordinary, but just strange if you think about it.




Thursday, December 8, 2022

Dear Rita Valley...

It's always lovely to find an award-winning cow with your name! This is what happens when you google yourself... be prepared for the results. (*1) I also have a number of vineyards in California bearing my name. On that one I'm a saint. (*2)

In any event, besides being a heifer, I'm a bit behind blogging as our monitor on the desk top computer decided to blow a fuse or shit the bed or whatever accurately describes a computers self-immolation. I turned on the computer the other day and !!SNAP!! there was a sharp crackling noise and a weird smell of burning electronics as the screen went black. Granted the monitor (and keyboard) were a million years old. We had replaced the tower several years ago (oh sure, that's probably "old" now too in computer years!) but I guess we weren't prepared for screen meltdown. It being the weekend- and the Xmas holiday shopping season- we opted to wait until a weekday to buy a new one. We also purchased a new keyboard as the letters were all wearing off, leading to many accidental typos. But the one we bought had strangely pale letters on it that made it effectively no better than the old one so that one's going back to the store when we get a minute.

So what else is new? My pony is on a diet as she looks fat to my farrier and others. (*4) I am supposing that having a month off work because of Lyme disease (*3), loosing her pasture mate Maggie (and therefore not moving around as much) and the weather being so terribly wet and muddy (*5), she's chubby. My friend Sabina (a one time riding instructor but general horse mentor) said she thinks it's fine that Neko is going into the winter a bit rotund, but I don't want Neko suffering weird equine health issues. 

And speaking of weather, a little Climate Change anyone? It's December and the ground is not frozen and it's been relentlessly raining- not snowing- and I have flowers blooming! Yes, our mutant primroses are blooming in the shade border. Really?!? Additionally, bulbs are sending up leaves... they should be dormant. Gardening is really becoming a gamble. Looks like we'll be harvesting something in time for Xmas. 


 (*1) Fortunately, she IS a lovely cow!

(*2) Santa Rita Valley: there are a number of vineyards offering a Pinot Noir. We should try it.

(*3) I just read a study where 25% of horses tested in Pennsylvania were positive for Lyme disease or anaplasmosis and  another tick borne illness! Ugh! They live outside, they roll in the grass; what are you supposed to do?!?

(*4) I saw a picture of Neko when I first tried her... she looked so much thinner! I was shocked.

(*5) Too slippery to actually ride; all you can do is plop around in the muck.