Episode XVIII

One of the most perplexing things about the human mind is the dream state. Sometimes we dream the sweetest dreams while other times it's the scariest nightmare. We then wake up trying to hold onto those dreams, perhaps with a hope of deciphering it, gaining some sort of meaning as to what it all means.

DREAMS
Last night, other rather, the other week by the time you all read this, I had three dreams, or rather two profound dreams and one matinee that has no significant meaning.

The Pie
This was the matinee. This dream is complete silliness and probably has no meaning -- other than I spend too much time thinking about work.

I was in a large room with several white cloth covered round tables. There weren't many chairs surrounding the tables, at first, but I recall that as I looked around people started popping into existence. The first familiar face was Robert, one of the chefs that works at the HGI. We talk a little every day that we work together, but I wouldn't call us "friends" per say.

So as I looked around food also started filling up the tables. One table in particular caught my eye as there was one rather large food item on it. It was a pie. And I'm not just talking like a large pie. No, this thing was probably two to three feet in diameter and at least a foot and a half tall at it's center. What made this pie even more unique was what kind of this this was. Ordinarily pies are a fruit or a custard, sometimes even a hodge-podge of ingredients like those in a mince-meat pie. This particular pie was potato, not sweet potato mind you, just regular old Idaho potatoes. It was baked, much like a potato casserole would be -- so there were layers upon layers of sliced potatoes. Topping it all off was baked cheese and crispy bacon strips -- sort of a Baked Potato Pie.

The Airport & My Father
This one makes me wonder what it signifies. Although I'm certain I know what it means; more on that later.

This one started out with me being in some kind of terminal. I'm assuming it was an airport. A rather small one at that, because there were only one concourse. But from the massive amount of people crowding the terminal one would have thought that they'd walked into Chicago's O'Hare, or LAX. How do I know there was only one concourse? I recall looking at a sign board; don't know what I was looking for, but yet I was looking at it. It was a trapezoid-shape, with one end nearly ending in a point.

Looking around I remember finally coming into contact with my dad. If you didn't know my father, here's a little background on him.  Between 1999 and 2000 (I think) he had a heart attack. It's not like he was overweight, but I think his cholesterol was high. This attack ended up with him having to have a pace-maker. While these are amazing devices they only last on a batter for so long. And within the past month he had to go back under the knife and have this battery replaced. Both surgeries are no laughing matter and perhaps are what stirred me to think about him. Also, he is not a young man either. He is in his upper 70s, though you'd insist one the way he goes about his day that he was only in his late 50s or early 60s.  He's slowed down some since the first surgery, but the fact remains he isn't getting any younger, and that saddens me.

So there we were together, in some unknown airport, and I recall not wanting to go. Whether one or both of us were going somewhere or leaving I don't know. But I remember pushing my way through the masses trying to prevent us from going. Perhaps since my dad is getting older maybe I was trying to prevent him from dying? With the airport signifying Purgatory, the place between Heaven and Hell. Though I highly doubt my dad would go to Hell, that would explain the small airport.

Although if it wasn't an airport, it could have also been a train station. I recall a dream from a couple months ago where I was at a train station. Once again the platforms were crowded, and the trains were going to unknown destinations.

Some of you may know that I fear death. I fear what comes after this life. And perhaps these dreams are my subconscious' way of cooping with the idea.

Face of a child
Now I've heard that pregnant mothers have had dreams where they see the face of their unborn child. Perhaps having to do with the nine month symbiotic connection they share. But for a father to see his unborn child's face, is unheard of, right? But yet I had a dream about seeing my unborn son born.

I don't know where we were, but I know it was shortly after the birth because my son was looking a little red. He was laying down on some flat surface and I recall looking upon his face. Whether he was clothed or not I don't remember, but yet I knew he was my son.

"Could have been Carleigh," you might be saying. "You could be recalling your daughter's birth." And to that I say "nay." It wasn't Carleigh's birth as I recall having her under my right arm. Was I lifting her up? Was I coddling her in my arm like a new born? I don't know. But I know she was there. However, Courtney wasn't there. Which is odd, because she had just given birth to our son. Strange.

Conclusion
I don't believe these dreams to be connected in any way. But it's odd that I would have both a "life" and "death" dream on the same night.

Thoughts?

Episode XVII

Whoa! Look at the time. Where has it all gone? Major apologies for the extended break.

2nd & Charles
So what was supposed to be a trip to the ballpark turned out to be a much shorter trip to a used book store.

The weather on Thursday morning was questionable at best. The skies were cloudy and the temperature was a mild 70 degrees. An overall decent day to go see a baseball game. As we got ready that morning, we began to discuss our baseball game choices. Baltimore was playing at home, while the Frederick Keys were playing a short drive down in my old stomping grounds of Prince William County (the Potomac Nationals).

Carleigh got all excited and started saying, "go see a baseball game." (Which is cute in and of itself.) And we kept reassuring her that we were going. But we had to make a choice. Option A) Drive further and pay an overall cheaper price (tickets plus concessions) and see the Keys play the Nationals -- or -- Option B) drive to Baltimore, and pay higher prices. Since Carleigh was going to be free at either park we decided we'd go see the Orioles take on the Rays, but the game wasn't until 7pm so we had some time to kill.

So we drove across town to grab some lunch, which was good despite the fact that they messed up my burger. Afterwards we noticed that a new store had taken over the vacated Borders store. 2nd & Charles is a used entertainment store, with tons of used books, dvds, cds, and other items. With a couple of hours still to kill we decided to take a look and were pleasantly surprised by their variety. Unknowingly we had come in on the day of their Grand Opening, so everything was pristine and in order -- making it a much better choice than the only other used book store in town, Wonder Books.

While browsing through their items Courtney and Carleigh found several books that they wanted to get. Carleigh especially gets upset when you try to take a book away from her. This is great because that'll hopefully mean she'll like reading more as she grows older. Courtney on the other hand has been reading two books at a time, and is slowly working her way through our limited library. She wanted to try using the eReader on the new tablet I got for my birthday, but downloading these books has proven difficult. So she picked up a copy of the first Twilight novel. To which I lovingly grabbed the other three books in the series, and said she had a choice. Either buys the books OR go to the game (apparently this was a day of choices). She choose the books -- so much for an evening at the ballpark.

A Love of the Game
Speaking of baseball, last year was Carleigh's first baseball game. My parents were in town for a week and we decided to go to a game. Once again we had the choice of an Orioles game or a Keys game. My dad didn't want to drive all the way out to Baltimore so I called up the Keys to inquire about tickets. They had some sort of deal where you could get an All-You-Can-Eat buffet, plus drinks and seats to the game. I forget the cost, but it definitely made it worthwhile.

Ever since they I believe Carleigh has begun to develop a love for sports. I'm certain that she has no clue what is actually going on, who to route for, or even who's playing, but she cheers the teams along. During that game last year she got to try several different ballpark fare, and got to walk around the stadium, enjoying the sights and sounds of America's Favorite Pastime.

Recently I've seen this love of sports grow, as she now asks to watch football or baseball on any given day. The other day we were sitting around watching TV, and with nothing else on I decided to turn on the Nationals' game. They were playing the Mets, and I tried to tell Carleigh the difference between the two teams. Again she just sat there and cheered, but for who it doesn't matter. She said something like, "nice catch" or "nice throw", bringing a large smile to my face.

I love how she's attached herself to things that i enjoy too. She even wants to sit with me when I gamemaster an RPG. Rolling the dice and drawing on my character sheets are two of her favorite activities. She'll also watch old TV shows with me, most recently Sliders and MacGyver. Though I doubt she cares what's going on, she is at least visually content with appeasing my desires to watch old TV shows.

What it probably amounts to is that she just wants to spend time with me, and I'm fine with that!