Dream with Red Cobblestone Streets

 

What happens when we dream?  Dreams are made of images, sounds, and events, most of the time chaotic, sometimes sweet, sometimes scary.  Dreams seem to have a sudden start; at least that is what we remember, which might or might not be associated with its last mist.

I still remember one of the most epic dreams from my childhood; it happened so long ago, but it created an impression; I dreamt of a horse.  The dream starts by opening my tin soldier box and there it was, gallant, ready to take me into battle.  I picked the horse from the box and placed it on the palm of my hand to admire it.  The horse looked at me and I was surprised because I knew that it was a tin horse! Then, the unimaginable; the horse grew until it became a giant horse.  Suddenly, I am standing on the horse while looking at my surroundings as if I am looking from the stars.  "Is this real?"

When I woke up I went to the tin soldiers box to look for my horse, and there it was.  I looked at its face, but it did not move.  That day the little tin horse accompanied me to school; I knew it was in my bag; all I had to do was look inside; "there you are little tin horse!".  That night I wanted to have the same dream, but it did not happen.

Children discuss their dreams in their social circles, it is a storytelling activity, so much fantasy!  It is sad that as adults we do not talk about them anymore.  Perhaps these dreams reveal that we are human, have feelings.

Every night I leave the door of my room opened a few inches. I enjoy doing that because when it is dark outside of my room and I have my night table light on, the entire composition creates a mystic shadow and my mind places my wife looking through the opening; I can even see her there with a smile. "Is this real, or is it my heart soothing me?"

"You can come in and join me any time you want...  good night Christina".  After that, I close my eyes hoping to see my beloved.

Last night I was rewarded.  I am riding my bike through some old European town with red cobblestone streets.  "Why I cannot feel the cobblestones?"  I looked down and my bike is floating very close to the road without touching it - "Oh, that is why!".  Up ahead I hear the voice of a street vendor - "Polascinta! Get yours now, they are nice and warm!"  The street chant made me raise my head to look ahead to see a woman in the distance wearing a long green skirt waving as she walked - "I know you!" - and raced to reach the vendor who was walking graciously holding a big tray with both arms.  When I reached the vendor I was greeted with a smile; it was Christina then my bike kept moving forward while I had my eyes fixed on her face - "beautiful".

Then I woke up.  It was so real.

What Are you Doing?!

 

It is difficult to write a story out of context.  My wife and I started a wildflower garden because of taxes.  Yes, you read it right; taxes.  

The original idea of what to do with the piece of land in front of our house started to take shape in 2016 when the Liberal government of Justin Trudeau was elected.  During his election campaign, the Liberals promised to set yet another tax on Canadian families, and this time was to save the entire world; The Carbon Tax.

Well; they were elected and set themselves to grab more money from our purses without providing a framework to start tapering the usage of fossil fuels.   "Not another tax; it is hard as it is!" were the words stuck in my mind constantly.  To show that the liberals were bringing responsible governance to Canada, and the world, the government started to work on their Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act legislation.  It was just a matter of time before we were going to be paying more for everything.

I needed to do something, regain control somehow; mitigate the blow.  On a spring Sunday morning in 2018, I got up early:

"- Jose; why are you getting up so early?"

"- I have something to do in the garden"

Kissed my wife's face and she closed her eyes.  Christina did not make much of what I said and stayed in bed for a few more minutes savoring the warmth of our nest.  I got dressed, put on my rubber boots, and hoe in hand, like a weapon, marched to the front yard to start lifting the lawn.  Christina got up a few minutes later to start her house routines; empty the dishwasher put the coffee on, and prepare breakfast for all of us.  

Sunday breakfast at "The Marino Horvath's" has always been a  big event.  Christina would prepare her famous roasted potato chips which would be accompanied with bacon, fried eggs, and something sweet which would either be Hungarian sweet crepes (palacsinta), real buttermilk pancakes, or Belgian waffles.  We have always preferred "Breakfast Food" on Sundays of all things.  

Preparing breakfasts is labor-intensive and it takes a long time, so, while Christina was hard at work as a chef I was doing the same in the garden and had lifted half of the lawn already.  When breakfast was ready, Christina went to the front door:

"-Jose, breakfast is ready...  what are you doing?!"

"-I am going to plant potatoes here..."

"-No, no, stop!" - waving her hand in the air while taking the front door steps down to where I was. 

 "-You can't plant potatoes there... " - pointing at the ground.

"-But Christina, this carbon tax, food is going to be so much more expensive, we better grow our own, we have the land; we can do this."

"-I'll tell you where to plant potatoes."

"-What do we do with this?  Seed it with grass again?"

Christina remained still for a moment with her hands on her waist, looking at the bare land in silence, pondering what to do, then she nodded.

"-Wildflowers"

"-Wildflowers?"

"-Yes; it would be good for the bees" - turning to me with a smile -"which in turn will help pollinate your plants.  We'll have more than potatoes!  Come, wash up; Breakfast Food is ready".

Ah, If you wonder what my vote was in 2016 and ask me; I would not need to answer that no, I did not vote Liberal, but instead built a wildflower garden! 

The Day Before Getting Married

Opened a drawer and there it was, under a pile of papers waiting to be rediscovered!   

This picture decorated the wall across from my bed in New York.  I could see it clearly before closing my eyes for a good night's sleep, to dream of the day we could be together again, my wife and me.  I have not found the original yet; I know it is somewhere!

There we were in the lobby of The Edgewater in Seattle the day before getting married!  How beautiful we were!

Today I was practicing one of my rituals; while I was working on the dining room table Christina's picture was "watching" a show about Egyptian Gods on Prime.  Raquel; our youngest daughter walked into the living room and asked me what I was doing.  I explained to her the ritual, that it was OK to do that because it makes me feel better.  Interestingly, she was wearing a sweater from Mom because it makes her feel better.  

We hugged and she asked me for the URL address of my blog.  She is now reading.  She likes the story about Colt's Dragoon! She was there.

I remember, remember everything.