The Strangest Of Dreams

Woke up the the strangest of dreams  yesterday.

In the dream I was hiking in the woods. That alone is bizarre. I don't hike. I am not an outdoor guy except to stand pensive in the warm sun, to drink in the beauty of the woods around me, to absorb the royal red of a sunset and to experience a caressing breeze on my bare arm in the middle of July.

In other words I am not an active participant in the great outdoors. I don't kayak, bike, jog, swim or mud.

And I don't hike.

Anyway I was hiking in the woods. Really hiking. I mean I was getting up and down mountains, crossing streams, covering a lot of ground.

But I had this nagging reminder that it was my brother's birthday and I had to get back for the celebration.

At one point I was up high and I heard a group of people down below singing the happy birthday song. I thought to myself "Shit, I missed it." I listened attentively and when they got to the happy birthday to................. part, they did not say Eddie.

I was relieved.

I continued hiking and then suddenly I was in a house where a celebration, a dinner, was going on at a long table. In the dream I saw myself sliding into a chair near the head of the table where an older gentleman was  speaking to the gathering.

He was very emotional.

He was talking about how we all say we are going to pay more attention to the ones we love, how we reflexively say we are going to appreciate our family and friends and our lives, we promise to do it and know it will improve our lives and make us happier, but we never follow through.

He got louder and more emotional as he spoke. He was trying so hard to get through, to get past just words to true communication. He was trying to create change in our hearts right there, right then, so there would be no going back.

Eventually he just broke down and started sobbing.

There are loose ends hanging in the details of this dream, seemingly unrelated facts and bizarre realities.

Ultimately, I believe my brain is working overtime, feverishly, to get me to The Truth.