An Autumn Leaf Dreaming of Spring

And so it went.  Day after day after day I waited.

At first, from my faraway post it might have been an injured red Virginia Cardinal fluttering on a barren branch in a forest now devoid of any leaves.

On closer inspection it was actually a lone leaf fluttering in the breeze.

“It may be the only leaf still clinging to life in the state of Virginia,” I thought.

Then we had 60 mile per hour wind gusts.

“Surely it will release its grasp though this,”

But there it stayed and stays still.

I never see a singular leaf like this even though I look along our roadsides.

Now it is snowing and raining and snowing with a sometimes stiff breeze making for peculiar weather.

And there she is, hanging on

as if dreaming.

She is to be admired – an Autumn leaf dreaming of turning green again for one more chance at life.

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Dream Beagle

 

Yesterday was an icey cold day in this part of Virginia and I was napping.  A mix of rain and sleet, plus wind and a light coating of snow made sleeping midday pretty cozy.

And I was dreaming.

I dreamed about a little Beagle dog who was crying to enter my house.

She was out in all that frigid weather.

And she was walking right by my window, looking in.

I awoke with a gasp!

And in spite of anticipated pain in my BigFoot from radical fast movements, I quickly got to my feet and actually rushed to the nearest window.

No Beagle.

Was it real, that dream?  Was there really a little dog out there begging for a permit to enter?

I was so sure it was real,  I actually staggered from window to window peering out and hoping.

But, No Beagle.

Last night I saw once again my Dream Beagle, and this time I let the poor pup in.

I have wanted to adopt a dog for so long now that the dream became an entirely plausible reality.

They say, “Dreams are wish fulfilments.”

I am still checking all around the house for my Dream Beagle.

But a Mutt would be fine too.

Daily Post WordPress Prompt –  

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/permit/

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Sepia Skylights

A Virginia View

Is it a mirage or a dream,

or another sunrise in Virginia?

 

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The Spiral Staircase

Extraordinary Staircases from AD Features : Architectural Digest
http://www.architecturaldigest.com
Water Mill, New York staircase

More on Stairs.

I am preoccupied with stairs.

Oh elegance!

When I was a young girl with ah, so many longings, I yearned for  a splendid home of my own – a home with a sweeping spiral staircase!

As a new bride I harbored dreams of  the mansions featured in magazines like Architectural Digest – gorgeous homes of the rich and famous with circular staircases leading to enormous bed/sitting rooms, with silken draperies, libraries, and the artwork of the masters on the walls.

And my yearning for such a home was always punctuated by the impressive, inspirational, sumptuous spiral stairs.

And would you believe I finally did get what I wished for?

Have you ever seen the GEICO commercial about a guy who meets a genie and makes a wish for a million bucks.  And that’s what he gets – a million male deer?

My wish was exactly like that.  The genie appeared in the form of Bill (my singularly brilliant spouse) and he magically produced a spiral staircase for the house of my dreams.

The stairs are spiral all right, and they are

metal,

not particularly elegant,

slightly rickety,

 even dangerous

(particularly in lightning storms),

frightening to those who fear heights,

and the railing is similar to a stiff rubber hose!

Bill is a Civil Engineer who spent a lifetime building roads (not houses), but he knows all about blueprints and measurements and since he is a highway man, getting from one point to another.  The point is, his design plan worked.

We do have a lovely, much beloved, mostly one level, mostly comfortable, unpretentious home.  Bill designed it – drew out the plans and everything.  AND THERE IS A UTILITY ROOM IN THE BASEMENT.

Evidently, the most utilitarian way down to the utility room was to install a pre-fabricated metal set of winding scares stairs.

AND YES, BILL MADE MY WISH COME TRUE AND I DO HAVE THAT SPIRAL STAIRCASE!

It is not a million bucks, and certainly not a mansion, but who can complain with a literal wish coming true?

Eeeeeeek!!!!!!

 

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All Our Dreams

It seems like yesterday a child arrived 

and my son was smitten with great pride

Look, a moment captured,

when all our dreams were in their eyes.

She is our oldest grandgirl, Jess

now graduating from Virginia Tech.

Graduate school is the next step

and our dreams are in her eyes.

 

 

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Dream Questions: The Art of Waking up Confused

Lately I am having recurring dreams that end in aggravating, unanswered, specific questions.

And I wake up perplexed and immediately begin searching for the answers.

Dream #1 – What is your credit card number?

I was shopping with a friend.  She convinced me to buy a pretty little lamp for the fireplace hearth (not a likely place for a lamp but what the heck, it was a dream!). 

The lamp was on sale for $52.97 (I am nothing if not precise in unconscious slumber).  After much hesitation, I decided to go for it but could not find my credit card.  “We will accept the number,” said the clerk but I did not remember the number. Walking around the store I kept trying hard to recall but finally ended up not buying the lamp.

How embarrassing!

Upon awakening I rushed to get the card out to memorize the number. 

Where is that lamp now anyway? 

Dream #2 – The Golden Girls

In the next dream I could not remember the names of the characters in the old Golden Girls television show.  I remembered “Dorothy” of course, but that was it.  Who can forget their own name anyway?  But, I have watched the reruns of that show for years.  How could I forget the Girls’ simple stage names?  Immediately upon awakening I went to the computer and was relieved to find Blanche, Rose and Sophia.  How weird is that?

And how important?

Dream #3 – Here Kitty, Kitty!

I dreamed a beautiful cat came to our door in a rainstorm.  Maybe there is a commercial like that and it triggered the dream.  Anyway, I loved this kitty and really wanted to keep her.  But she had to have a name!  I went through thousands of names in my dream and awakened without one.  There was no kitty at my door either and even if there was, it would still be nameless because I keep going through the mental list even wide awake.

Huh?

And Dream #4 – Who Killed Jack Ruby?

I dreamed I was there when President Kennedy was killed and when Lee Harvey Oswald, his assassin, was shot by Jack Ruby.  But I could not remember what happened to Jack Ruby.  I knew he died, but how?  I still have to look that up.

Now I know many of my friends will wonder about a sanity issue here.

Each morning I wake up with a different haunting question that drives me, not mad, but in a mad rush to find the answer.  You see, I wake up not knowing the answer even in real life!

This type of dreaming has never happened to me before.

I can’t wait for the next unconscious memory lapse – probably in tonight’s dream TBA.

And thank goodness for Google, who saves most of the answers!

Is this a sleep affliction I have not yet heard about or is Bill putting something in my soup?

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Smoky Dreams

Daily Prompt: Feed Your Senses

Write down the first sight, sound, smell and sensation you experienced on waking up today.  Pick the one you’re most drawn to, and write.  (For a bigger challenge, pick the one you’re least drawn to.)

I used to be a smoker a long time ago.  Then I quit.  The song, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, with its romantic lyrics, no longer entices me.  And smoky rooms make my eyes water among other negative reactions.

This morning I woke up thinking I was a smoker again.  Or maybe I was dreaming of sleeping in a smokehouse, where they cure meats.  This is the smell I am LEAST drawn to now!  Why would I wake up with the smell of smoke permeating every pore, to say nothing of the sheets and drapes.

“Is it in my hair?” I thought.  “Why do I have this smoke induced headache in my own smoke-free home?  Is this some sort of joke?  Is there a diabolical plot my husband has concocted to make me think I am crazy? No.  Maybe this is just the remnants of a nightmare.”

With a slow incredulous crawl from bed, I realized this was no dream.   There it was again – the scent of wood smoke permeating the room.  Memory was slowly returning and I recalled yesterday the lady cattle farmer across the way was burning brush in three separate fires.  At first I thought it was a forest fire and might have called the Fire Department, but my husband informed me these were “controlled fires.”

Oh, I am all for the health and prosperity of the American farmer.  I was delighted to see her purchase the property across the way.  “Now, all we will ever see from our kitchen window are the mountains and the peaceful, bucolic view of cows a-grazing.”  This part is true.  I just did not know I would have to wake up to billowing smoke in my bedroom!

Granted, this post may be a slight exaggeration, but story tellers do that sometimes.

My eyes are still watering however.

And in addition to visions of my lungs blackening, and having to move to the city,  I woke up hungry!  I thought,  “Yummmm. Barbecue!”

And who needs to wake up starving in a smokehouse anyway?

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I Wish

Daily Prompt:  Impossibility

“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” – the White Queen, Alice in Wonderland.

What are the six impossible things you believe in?

A Skinny Me.  I believe I will magically wake up in the morning weighing what I weighed when I was first married.    Obviously, magic is impossible.

Winning the Lottery!  Ha! I don’t even win at Bingo.

Lollygagging.   That means staying in bed with a good book, a Danish pastry, lotsa crumbs and coffee.  Ha!

Spring in Full Bloom.  O.k., I know it’s on the way and there are signs.  “But I want what I want when I want it.”  I want to wake up to the tulips and the redbuds and the green green grass at home – NOW!

The Fountain of Youth.  Yes, I know that’s truly impossible, but there are the little fountains of youth in skin creams, makeup, hair gels and Spanx.  I am also the supreme tester of every vitamin on the market.  So far, my hair grows greyer and the frown lines deeper but I still believe in the Fountain(s) of Youth.

A Four Pound Lobster Dinner by the Sea.    After all, it’s mostly shell right?  And if I have it by the sea, it means I will be on a superb vacation.  I’m already packed.

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