Dreaming

This dream began without any introduction, as dreams are wont to do. I was just merged into a series of ongoing events......

I was supposed to do something for Uncle Lou, and had not been able to find him. Later, he found me and asked 'Where were you? I needed you!' I explained, and told him I would definitely be there for him the next time. So - the dream shifted to a situation where I was standing outside some kind of venue - maybe a church, or a meeting hall, or perhaps an airport. I stood there, watching, as all of the adult men I've known walked out of this place (much as we stand and watch people walk off an airplane at the airport, looking for our family or friends) the fathers of my childhood friends were there - Bruce Buell, Ken Bueche, some of my teachers, Uncle Johnny and Uncle Henry, Don Fox, Orrin Curtis... and many more. Then Dad was there, and he walked up to me with a big smile and said 'Hi Sport!' and he hugged me. We walked along, holding hands. I could FEEL his hand in mine. So warm, so big. Then I told him I had to find Uncle Lou, because he needed me to take care of him. And Dad said 'I know you do, but I've sure enjoyed spending this time with you.' And as he walked away I felt his hand slip out of mine, and I knew I would never see him again. But it was okay - we'd had that last moment together, and I knew he loved me. Then Uncle Lou walked up with a big smile and said 'I knew you would be here!' And I said of course, I wouldn't miss him a second time. And that was that.

I had this dream more than 10 days ago, and I still vividly remember it, and the emotional intensity of it remains.

Cape Cod ~ Rome ~ Cairo ~ Jo'berg

This, in an email from Perry:

I hope this communique finds you all happy and healthy, wealthy and wise.

We've arrived in South Africa after seven delightful days among the ruins of Roma and Cairo. Beth and I toured the Forum, Colisseum, Palatine Hills and the Spanish Steps of Roma before flying to Egypt. Both Beth and I have been fascinated with the mystique of ancient Egypt since watching the Ten Commandments as children ... and four lovely nights at the Mena House Palace set beside the Great Pyramids of Giza did nothing to disappoint our romantic souls. :)

Our fully outfitted Land Rover was delivered from Cape Town this morning. Tomorrow, Beth's Aunt Paula and Uncle Bruce fly in from Zambia where they've been voluntering their time, efforts and love for the past two weeks to those desperately in need. We'll guide them around Kruger National Park for 12 days or so before heading north to Botswana and the Okavango Delta including Chobe National Park ..... the greatest wildlife refuge on the planet.

Wilderness

There is a wolf in me .... fangs for tearing gashes .... I keep the wolf because the wilderness gave it to me and the wilderness will not let it go.

There is a fox in me .... I nose in the dark night and take sleepers and eat them and hide the feathers .... I circle and loop and double-cross.

There is a hog in me .... a machinery for eating and grunting, for sleeping satisfied in the sun - I got this too from the wilderness and the wilderness will not let it go.

There is a fish in me .... I know I came from salt-blue watergates .... I know I scurried with shoals of herring before the water went down .... before Noah .... before the first chapter of Genesis.

There is a baboon in me .... hairy under the armpits .... here are the hawk-eyed hankering men .... here are the blonde and blue-eyed women .... here they hide curled up sleeping ready to snarl and kill .... ready to sing and give milk .... waiting - I keep the baboon because the wilderness says so.

There is an eagle and a mocking bird in me .... and the eagle flies among the Rocky Mountains of my dreams .... and fights among the sierra crags of what I want .... and the mockingbird warbles in the underbrush of my Chattanoogas of hope, gushes over the blue Ozark Hills of my wishes - And I got the eagle and the mocking bird from the wilderness.

Oh, I got a zoo, I got a menagerie inside my ribs, under my bony skull, under my red-valved heart - and I got something else: it is a man-child heart, a woman-child heart: it is a father and a mother and a lover: it came from God knows where; it is going to God knows where - For I am the keeper of the zoo: I say yes and no: I sing and kill and work: I am a pal of the world: I came from the wilderness.

~ Carl Sandburg ~