The Badger, the Boa constrictor, and the Unicorn

After rolling out of bed this morning at my normal, unnatural hour of 5 a.m., the first addictive switch of the day triggered and off I went to check whatever emails magically found their way to me overnight. First in the batch was Joel and his dream.

"The night before Christmas I had a dream: I was running/walking down a trail to get to the old lake house. There were several wild animals on the way there -- some of them chasing me, some of them just there. I remember a badger type animal and then a large boa constrictor that I had to step over. At the very end of the trail, right before the lake house, one miniature white unicorn the size of a large dog or a goat came running up to me. I held it in my arms and it licked my face affectionately. This was very vivid. What does it mean?"

After the first sleepy read, I realized this dream required some cogitating boosted by a cup of coffee. There were just too many animals to think about this early in the morning.

By 6:00 a.m., I was on to my next addiction -- early morning running. Lucky me, I can still claim a running partner. And, double lucky for me, Laura is about 25 years younger than me. but, I decided, long ago, it's a trade-off. I learn from Laura and somehow or another, I manage to say a few things that elicit an "Oh, I didn't know that!" from her. For example, we were talking about some subject a couple of days ago, and Sheena came to mind -- Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. Imagine! Laura had never heard of her. I have to bring Sheena out occasionally, grab her shield and hold it in front of me to help fight off the foes and forces of whatever. As we start the New Year, it's the Whatever's I'm getting ready for, I told Laura and she laughed with joy.

As for my daily dose of education, Laura tried to explain to me how she got those family pictures into a Christmas card and managed to send it by email to her crowd of family and friends. So, you see, Laura teaches me the concepts and basic vocabulary used by the wizardry of technology and I try to remember to share lessons I learned -- far before Laura ever imagined she would be running the streets of Austin, in the dark, listening to Sheena, tales of animal dreams, and bits and pieces of wisdom learned, joggled into my memory by the fresh air of the morning from a childhood lived in another time. I call it the forward running and backward running time of the day.

Yesterday morning we were running -- Laura and I. The streets were unusually vacant. Not many runners, early morning walkers, bicyclers, or cars. The couple of people we met or passed and said a "Good Morning" to, didn't respond. One man we passed was just standing with a Thursday morning glum look on his face. Laura mentioned that what we were seeing and not hearing was certainly peculiar. I told her the last time that I could remember experiencing such non-responsiveness from people and not understanding why, was the morning I learned that President Kennedy had been assassinated. Back home, and turning on the T.V. to catch the morning headlines, an eerie reminder of, although we live with such rapid change, there is some enduring sameness after all -- Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan had been assassinated.

I wonder if Laura even remembers my Kennedy comment. I will have to ask her. this is a time tested given with running -- although there is talk, talk, talk, and many personal secrets shared, as soon as the run is over, much of what is said, is forgotten. What if the streets and trails could talk? The animals? Back to the animals again -- The dream. In this story, it's time to close the circle.

Joel knows I have this old, thick, thumbed through, dream book. From A to Z, 10,000 dreams are interpreted. It's been grabbed many a morning, as both Joel and I seem to have dreams a few ticks off center. Take this morning for instance, my dream memory was of oatmeal. Now really, how many people usually dream of oatmeal? There were a couple of individual oats in my bowl with dark, unwanted flicks. In my dream, I simply picked them out, threw them away, and went on about my merry business.

New knowing what I am going to read about a particular dream, and not wanting to be, 'three strikes and you're out' with the Badger, Boa Constrictor and the Unicorn, I picked up the book, blew the dust off the cover, closed one eye and squinted with the other, and turned to the U's -- Unicorn. I know it's silly, but the pace of my heartbeat picked up a tad. "To dream of a unicorn, signifies good fortune and happy circumstance." Whew! This is what the G. H. Miller book said. Right there on page 529.

On to the B's -- Boa Constrictor. Whoops! "To dream of this, is just about the same as to dream of the devil." Joel would have been better off to have killed the darn snake according to Miller. I hesitate. Oh, the confusion of coming from and mixing two worldviews. But, there is a lesson here. The Cherokee have a great reverence for snakes. They are ghosts that occasionally visit us in dreams with reminders of caution. They can be regarded as prophesies. And, as it is said, the devil is in the details -- such as being on the lookout for how and what we are eating, whether or not we have forgotten to schedule our days with regularity in reference to food and sleep. The devil can be a good little reminding tap on the shoulder.

Last comes the B's -- Badger. "to dream of a badger, is a sign of good luck after battles with hardship." Thank you Mr. Miller. After the third swing, I'd say Joel hit a home run. The devil, the Lord, and his mother, only know the battles of life he has fought and survived. I've even thrown Sheena's shield in front of him more than once. But, for the moment, if Joel remembers the lesson of the Boa Constrictor, I would say he jumped the devil and had a double-dose of good luck. Oh-me-oh-my. Third addiction coming on.