Dream Self

It’s funny how dreams work. Well, I can only assume that all people dream the same which is probably assuming far too much. I have heard that Paul McCartney woke with the song “Yesterday” fully formed. I’ve never managed to dream one of the most popular songs of all time, but every now and then I do wake up thinking about blog ideas. I know, pathetic!

This morning I woke thinking about a friend of mine who will be retiring very soon. I was visiting him for some reason which the dream didn’t think important enough to let me know. Dreams can be assholes sometimes. Anyways, my buddy wanted me to go on a drive with him. My dream self didn’t think to ask where we were going, I guess dream selves have never heard of people having psychotic breaks and murdering other people in the woods. It was a nice, sunny, warm summer day and we headed into the country talking about this and that. Eventually we turned down a dirt road and still my dream self wasn’t worried.

We pulled up to a field that was behind some lake front cottages and parked the car. My friend told me that he bought a lot on the lake and he planned to camp there on and off when he retired. He has always loved the woods, so this would be a perfect place for him. We walked through some bushes and there was his daughter, smiling and jumping up and down with joy.

She grabbed his hand and led him to a small cottage. Somehow, she had called in a few favours and managed to get a building put up for my buddy. He shed tears of happiness and hugged his daughter as he should have. It was a small A-frame with large triangular windows with a lake front vista. Just perfect!

Except…

My dream self just couldn’t keep his mouth shut and let well enough alone. I should have smiled and been happy for my buddy, at least for one day. But, it appears that I couldn’t do that. I looked around at the cottage and started listing the jobs that needed to be done in my head. There isn’t a lot of room in my head, so of course that list just had to come out.

“You know, you are going to need to get a coat of stain or paint on the outside of the cottage before winter, and there isn’t any eavestroughing or down spouts that I can see. Is there a fresh water well on the property? No? You are definitely going to need one or you will be hauling water from the city every other day. Speaking of hauling water, is there a septic system here? No? Hmmmm… You could dig a pit I suppose, but that gets old pretty fast and a guy like you is full of shit. Hehehehehe! Before all of that though, you really need to get in touch with the power company and see how much it will cost to run a power line into the property. I know an electrician who is friends with my son-in-law and he might be willing to help out. I don’t know any plumbers, but most of that you could probably do for yourself…….”

My dream self just wouldn’t shut up even though I watched my friend getting more and more depressed. Thankfully I woke up before my buddy committed suicide. That would stay with you even if it were just in a dream.