new dream

Scene 1:
i was being driven down the I-5 corridor southbound. at some point i must have been dropped off, because i found a place to camp on the outskirts of Tacoma (a city in Washington for those unfamiliar). it was a slightly wooded area in an urban setting adjacent to a parking lot. it was twilight. knowing it was very late to begin making a fire, i very briefly set up my stuff and gathered some wood to make one. in a short time i was successful and soon had a small but workable blaze going. while looking around for some additional firewood to put on it, so to get it to burn long enough to cook with, i realized there was someone watching me, telling me all the things i already knew which were obstacles to my progress, such as it was very late, and the area was generally overrun by squatters, and critiquing my (reportedly) dying fire. when i returned with a small handful of wood i saw that the stranger (an older fellow) was correct about the fire dying. i noticed i'd built my fire atop a small running stream, merely a trickle of water. by this time it had become downright dark. the stream, which had originally flowed well below the fire's fuel, seemed to be welling up, wetting the bottom-most layer of sticks and putting it out. not wanting to let the fire die, and rather than start a new one to gain a better spot, i laid one of the sticks i was carrying across the current to dam up the water flow and slow its rise. i managed to get the fire going a little better but it was still pretty small.

Scene 2:
i soon knew that despite the effort to build the fire, and despite not having eaten yet, i'd have to go meet some people, relatives who were also camping some distance away. this would require leaving my things to the mercy of whatever squatters might be in the area. there was no way to bring all my stuff with me- i had to risk leaving it. i set out on foot carrying what i needed. i emerged from the wooded area into a parking lot, crossed it, and followed a long road down a huge hill, in the dark, along more parking lots and stores (a very urban setting) for a long time, until i finally found their spot.

Scene 3:
meeting up with the people, i felt welcome in the way that you feel welcome around family. i had a conversation with a woman who was evidently my aunt, and though she was a dream figure she reminded me of Aunt Penny. she was wearing a coat and a backpack. she told me how much her sons (my cousins, not present- possibly corrolating to Jim and Craig) would enjoy my joining them where they'd be camping in another fairly distant area the next day. she handed me a small piece of paper with the information on where to find them written, as they all wrapped it up for the evening and got ready for bed. i turned to go but was quickly asked to wait, evidently by my dream sister, who's corrolary might have been Nichole. her children wanted to hug me good-night, but weren't quite dressed presentably to come out. i waited a moment then peeked in their tent, where a young boy (possibly an Ethan or Cole corrolary) was sitting on the floor struggling to put on a pair of pants. i said something about not worrying about it all and went in and gave the little guy his hug. then i said my goodbyes and started back for my campsite.

Scene 4:
it was a very long walk back to my original spot, and i worried about the squatters as i trudged up the steep urban sidewalk, carrying what i'd brought with me. i was hungry and tired, and i tried not to be distracted by thinking about what the drivers in the passing cars were thinking of me. i just kept my head down, thinking, watching my sneakers on the sidewalk, and putting one foot in front of the other. the older gentleman i'd seen at my site earlier now appeared as a sort of voice in my head, talking to me, and again seemed to reiterate what i was already worried about.

finally i made it to the familiar parking lot outside my wooded area, and as i crossed the stretch of pavement diagonally, walking by a few vehicles (i noticed the same white van i'd walked by earlier), i saw a teenage boy sitting on the steps of an old, beat-up white RV before an open door. a few more teenagers, boys and girls, were hanging around the area. somewhat daunted by the number of people i was about to confront, knowing this large group had squatted on my things and likely appropriated them, i walked up to the RV, past the first teenager, and entered it. inside the RV, a certain teenage boy seemed to be in command and holding court over some others. i looked around and didn't see much of my stuff at all. many of the teenagers were spread out around the floor of the main living area of the RV, almost in slumber-party style. i asked a girl there a few questions about my things, briefly describing some of them to her. she wasn't much help. i saw a kid writing or drawing something in an open binder. he also had a small metal clipboard-type-thing that somewhat resembled a metal clipboard of mine, but wasn't. the boy in charge came in from the kitchen and directed everyone to let me look around, but i didn't have much confidence i could find anything, and didn't.

Scene 5:
evidently i left, because i was back in the wooded setting with the older fellow. at some point i realized i wasn't satisfied with losing my stuff, so i soon found myself back in the RV, talking with Teenage Leader Boy. the thing i was most upset about losing was a red, white and blue checkerboard quilt my mom crocheted for me in the real world. i pointed out its similarity to some other checkered blankets in the room, careful to state that none of the ones i saw were mine. he "let" me look around again, and soon enough, hidden on the floor beneath a small pine tree (inside, possibly a Christmas tree, pre-decoration) i found the blanket. i also found a few other things, including a stylish button-up shirt that belonged to Loren in the dream, which was laid out neatly. it still had the price tag on it. i gathered up the things i found and was preparing to leave to get my fire started again.

then the phone rang, and i dreamed no more. it was Loren calling me.

new photo album entries

i finally got to updating my online photo album; almost everything i've taken between late march and now has been added. that includes a ton of shots of my son's birthday party(ies) and all the pictures taken during my aunt & uncle's visit to washington.

there are maybe a dozen more entries to post, but this was the major update, and this is the official update notice.

there you have it- enjoy!

PEACE. out.

short REM report

Scene 1:
i was getting ready for school (of all things) and unsuccessfully trying to find a pair of suitable pants to wear. i was concerned i'd be late and trying to focus on what i was doing without stressing out everyone around me.

i had an in-depth mental picture of the roads i'd have to take, and was debating the best route. i was carrying around a red travel mug of coffee.

Scene 2:
Melissa, Jason, and Nichole were all there. it became clear that we weren't going to be able to leave until my mother showed up. waiting for her, we decided to play some poker at the kitchen table of what was evidently our shared residence- a setting unique to this dream. we sat on all four sides of the square table, Jason to my right, Nichole to my left, and Melissa opposite me. we played with a deck of cards made from multiple decks with different backs. it seemed to be my deal (though i don't remember dealing) because the deck was on my side of the table. when it became time to draw cards, all the cards on the table were face down, including the ones which would would normally be "up" cards. everyone went at the cards willy-nilly, out of turn, seeming to disregard any consideration of turns or rules. some players exchanged cards from their hands with cards from the small "up" (though actually down) card pile. i felt like i should protest at first, but just went along with it- though i took my cards from the correct pile. i pulled the two cards i needed to form a straight, an Ace and a 3, for an Ace-low straight. though it should have been Nichole's bet by any normal rules, Jason bet a dollar on his hand. Nichole knocked the deck(s) over and i chided her somewhat, while helping her get the cards back in a pile on the table. i wanted to raise Jason, but i had no money. i asked everyone how good my credit with them was and, getting a favorable response, raised the bet $5.

i never saw the end of the hand as i woke up.

very strange.

not much new

had a pretty good weekend with m'boy this time around. i've managed to get ahead of the curve on the work to be done around here (for the most part) and that always translates into more time to spend with the boy. we got more "hang time" than usual this weekend.

my boy's started doin' pushups like a man. don't know exactly what i did to get him into the whole idea, but he's figuring out he can use those big ol' beefy arms for more than just extensions to his video game controllers. nothing like watching him get jazzed on getting stronger. they teach the kids to do these crazy half-ass pushups in school instead of encouraging them to do the real thing. took a little coaxing but i seem to have convinced him of the benefit of pushing those muscles past the point of comfort. hope he sticks with it and develops some of the potential he's got so much of.

we completely unbolted the exhaust manifold of my truck today, trying to get a look at where the water leak is that's caused it to remain in the driveway for the last 4 months. i couldn't turn it over, so it's going to need the battery charged before i can move it anyway. i have the tabs for it sitting here on my desk; i'd love to get a chance to stick them on the plate and drive it around. nothing like $5000+ worth of hardware that runs fine but can't get used for risk of irreparable damage. it's still hard to believe i managed to drive that thing home without burning it up. had to make the trip in three goes, letting it cool down completely each time and refilling it with water that only lasted a couple miles. i kept shutting the engine off and coasting as much as possible; thankfully much of the trip (though by no means all) was downhill. realizing i would have to disconnect the exhaust manifold from the exhaust pipe before completely removing it, i decided it might be prudent to fill it up with water and try yet one more time (i've tried at least a dozen times already) to see exactly where the water was coming from. i was 90% sure it was coming from a fried core plug in the block- and it turns out i was right. it might not be necessary to remove the exhaust manifold to get at it, but it's on the underside of the block and it's going to require disconnecting a motor mount and jacking the engine off that mount to get at the core plug. never done that before; i'm sure it'll turn out to be a total pain in the ass. hopefully this will teach me not to neglect coolant in the future. last winter's freeze did that plug in.

that's all for now; i'm out of patience.

a new crop of pictures

here are some new pics for your viewing enjoyment:

this is a shot of some finish-fabricated signs, ready for paint. i'm building a bunch of the simple ones on the right- but this one was made by someone else. it looks just like one of mine though. it's laid down, but it's 8 feet tall (to give you an idea of scale).

i have no idea what this bush in my garden is

this is my rose tree....ok it's really just an overgrown bush that i can't seem to bring myself to cut down- wait till you see some pictures of the humongous roses it gets and you'll understand. it's just starting to bloom, but it'll keep on blooming over and over and over and over and over....

this is one of the first two roses to appear this year

i think this bush is a rhododendron- it's really overgrown and also gets beautiful flowers, but the flowers don't last long and they appear only once.

this is the mostly open bloom from the right rear of the previous picture- i really like this shot, and there's a fantastic 1280x1024 resolution image of it in my photo album that i made for computer wallpaper. the shrink really doesn't do this shot justice.

this is a what it looks like on a typical evening after work around here- after giving me my 15 minute welcome home Chowder generally winds down after a hard day of barking at the neighbors and everything else that comes near the fence, flies overhead, or makes a power tool noise.

as always, the full size pics are all in my album, plus 28 more, plus 2 short videos of the most rickety deathtrap tunnel ever driven by man (on Aurora Ave in downtown Seattle).

sleep calls and i'm listenin'- PEACE