Skip to main content

Getting A Slow Start

I'm getting a slow start today.

I had set today aside to work on an editorial for Labor Day—something about how everyone has a role to play, and even though Labor Day was started by labor unions to acknowledge "the working man," I think it's fair to say we can all be called "the working man," everyone but a schmuck like Bernie Madoff, that is.

Anyway, normally I would have finished with breakfast an hour ago and already been seated at the worky computer ready to sort out some ideas, but this morning I'm sluggish.

Last night, I dreamed I was imprisoned in a concentration camp. It was a cleaned up variety so it wasn't quite as hellish as images I've seen from World War II. But still, it was a bad place, and me and my fellow prisoners were plotting a coup. We were gathering in the cold snow and ready to attack in what I was sure would be a successful battle, but then I woke up. I was so disappointed to find myself awake because I really did want to see it all play out. I tried to coax my subconscious into slipping back into character and tell me the rest of the story, but it had another idea.

Instead, I found myself manning a booth at a farmers' market. A grower had produce to sell but couldn't be there to sell it, so I agreed to work his booth for him. He specialized in broccoli and cauliflower, but when I opened up the crates, I discovered assorted sweet papers and a big plastic bag full of raw bacon. He processed his own pigs, evidently, but didn't provide a cooler. I was trying to figure out how to sell bacon at room temperature when the guy at the next booth informed me he had an exclusive agreement with the market managers to sell peppers, and I would not be allowed to sell the ones I had on display. We worked out the disagreement, and all was well at the market.

But then I found myself sitting on a bench watching the market shoppers when a massive spider on a floating web made his way toward me. He was moving so quickly, that I was frozen in place and couldn't prevent him from landing on my left shoulder. I called out for help, realized I was actually calling out loud, and woke myself up. Again.

Then my stomach hurt. Then Big Mike the Cat came in with his pathetic meowing asking for breakfast even though it wasn't even 7:00 a.m. I couldn't ignore him because his vet said that his morning feeding would be very important—the big guy gets an insulin shot around 5:00 every evening, so he really needs to eat in the morning.

So, I got up, exhausted from an active night of dreaming and physical discomfort and hungry cats. I'm ready for a nap already, and I haven't typed a word of my editorial.

Comments

Shan said…
Whoa. No wonder you aren't up and at 'em!

I love dreams that seem like clever movies but don't they ALWAYS seem to get interrupted somehow and not finished. It is nearly impossible to return to those types of dream but a sure thing if you are stuck in a boring one that just keeps looping. ;)

I like that lukewarm bacon was your personal challenge at the market. Bahaha

And poor Mikey....and his "parents" having to give him shots and worry. It's hard enough communicating your feelings as human diabetic. All he has is meows. :)
Shan said…
I'm sorry I never proof read my comments to you...the writer. I'll try to pay more attention from here on out. :{
Scout said…
Shan, don't worry about proof reading. I proof read my posts hours after they go online, and I have to go back and revise, or sometimes I just let it go.

And Mike doesn't have two parents. Husband does not claim him in any sense. I'm a single mother when it comes to the cats.
savannah said…
don't you wish we had a rewind setting, sugar? xoxox
Marvellous, Robyn. Like you, I dream and remember them every night and most entertaining they are. When I'm less tied up, I plan to write my dreams down on a regular basis. I have often written short stories from them too. The Tennessee tale I wrote - I'm not sure if you remember it from my Things blog? - was a dream. Perhaps this can be another project of ours - writing down our dreams. Perhaps even making them into stories? How about it? Quite a team aren't we Robyn! he he... I know I am lagging on the first sentence one at the moment but there are reasons hopefully cleared a bit, soon. So - the Dream Team? Yes? We can either report them as you have just done excellently (felt I was there!) or we can write them up with dialogue etc into a story (see Tennessee if you want)...? We'll get a book out yet, Robyn, you and I !!!
Yes the lukewarm bacon sounds horrific! he he... I am terribly interested in dreams as somehow there really isn't anything you can site in previous days which would make you dream such a thing. I too wish we had the result of your Colditz plan.
dive said…
Trippy!
Er … Can I have some of your drugs, Robyn?

Popular posts from this blog

Am I Stupid, or What?

In two weeks, I will climb up into a charter bus, take my assigned seat, and ride 22 hours straight to Orlando, Florida. I will be a chaperon with the high school marching band, which will perform at Disney's Magic Kingdom--me and 180 people on four big buses for seven days. We will travel together, eat together, play together, fall down exhausted together--and after 22 hours, I suspect stink to high heaven together. Because of the crazy schedule, we will leave Ohio at 6 pm, travel all night and most of the next day, and spend several hours at MGM Studios before ending up at the hotel sometime after 7 pm. After I check in with the eight girls I am to supervise, I intend to shower and shower and shower. I intend to wear clean clothes and socks and brush my teeth until my toothbrush wears out. Of all the things I could be concerned about on this trip, being dirty seems to weigh heaviest on my mind. One of my eight charges could run off and do bad things with her boyfriend, but I'...

No More Mr. Nice Guy

It's good to be a nice person--to say nice things, to do nice things, to write nice things--but I declare an end to the use of the word nice. Nice is what you say when you can't think of any other adjective. Someone shows you a picture of their back yard--that's nice. Someone tells you about their afternoon adventure--that's nice. Or someone describes their childhood in great detail and sometimes with painstaking effort--that's nice. It's a lazy word, and it's non-descriptive. Nice is like mashed potatoes with noodles and chicken gravy all in a big pile on one plate with some canned corn for garnish. Everything is the same color and texture and base substance--starch (this is a favorite Amish dish). Nice is like a partly cloudy day in April when outside feels like inside, and you can't tell a difference between the lighting and the temperature of your living room and the lighting and temperature of your front yard. Nice is a glass of lukewarm water. ...

An Offending Pile

So, I'm standing in my living room letting my mind wander for a minute or two as I stare out the window and watch the day go by, and I see my neighbors walking their dogs down the street. They are nice neighbors who are always friendly and responsible with their property. That is to say they aren't like the other neighbors who heap rubbish behind their house like Ma and Pa Kettle and let their dogs bark for thirty minutes at a time . Anyway, I see the nice people walking their dogs, a big golden retriever who is as sweet as can be and as dumb as a post—he once ate a sock and nearly died before it was surgically removed—and a new golden retriever puppy. Then I see Neighbor Wife suddenly run down the street with the big dog. Then I see Neighbor Husband stopped in front of my house with the puppy on its leash. And then I see the puppy taking a huge dump in my grass. Let me tell you, that is not done in this town unless the dog owner has a plastic bag handy and is ready to pick up ...