It was an early Sunday morning when I was awakened by a dream. Actually, a nightmare, but still I was left with a nagging impression that it had really occurred. I looked over and saw that my book had fallen off the night table, and the lamp shade on the table lamp was sitting askew. I was dreaming that I felt a massive earthquake preceded by a blinding flash of light topped by a gigantic mushroom cloud. I observed the shock-wave from the epicenter spread out in all directions flattening everything in its path as it rushed toward where I was standing, atop a mountain. In the dream the shock-wave petered out when it reached the base of the mountain far below. I stared at the dust and clouds swirling and falling to earth for awhile, then turned and faced my two daughters as we crunched through patchy snow toward an opening, a doorway in fact, in a rock face.
I reached over and turned on the radio and tuned it to a local station. Music blared out the ending of a rock tune and faded quickly as an announcer cut in. "That was Pink Floyd and Fearless" he said quickly. "Say, did you guys feel that tremor just now?"
"Yeah, wasn't that something" a female announcer responded.
"I think my mic moved a few inches...Wow. 2012 here we come." the man said and the woman chuckled. They bantered on about inane facts and myths regarding earthquakes and the legend of 2012 for awhile as I tuned it out and finally turned it off.
The dream was one that I have been having with more and more frequency. I had never been awakened by actual tremors before. I looked over and watched my wife, Lynda, softly buzzing as she breathed through her nose apparently not disturbed by the quake. I was curious as to why she was never in my dream. I abruptly shook the dark thoughts surrounding it's possible meaning from my mind. The tremors were different this time; they did feel real. Surely, I thought, the tremors were coincidental to my dream. I shrugged and got out of bed. Life's events happened so randomly in my mind that the probability of two unrelated, and sometimes ironically intertwined events happening simultaneously seemed pretty good. I went down stairs and routinely filled the kettle and placed it on the stove. Setting the knob to 'high' I went to the front door to see if the newspaper had been delivered. Laying splayed open and mangled just as it usually was when the delivery girl threw it from ten feet away toward my door, I caught sight of the front page headline. "IRAN THREATENS ISRAEL WITH RETALIATION". I stooped and picked it up. I liked the Sunday paper, it was full of crosswords, book reviews and deeper coverage of world events. While many newspaper publishers were phasing out their printed editions and going online this one, the Vancouver Sun, still delivered a thick Sunday paper every week. I knew it was less environmentally friendly, but I liked the feel and sound of the paper as I flipped through it. The heady smell of relatively fresh ink was also comforting somehow.
When my family was younger, having an hour of peace in order to read the paper was hard to come by. But now that my daughters were grown and out of the house, I have gotten quite used to this luxury. I'm even a little disappointed if Lynda wakes up before I have an hour of quiet while I sip freshly brewed coffee and read the newspaper. As much as I love that woman, there are some things you need to do by yourself.
The front page article described the tension between Iran and the Israel, how it had been building over many years as the conflict over the Jewish settlers in the West Bank of Palestine with Hamas. Recently, the Palestinians have been less successful at attacking Israel due to a lack of resources. Some of the other Arab league nations are growing more and more impatient with the Israelis as they have taken an even harder line with the Palestinians. Iran, becoming more isolated and belligerent, has been making less subtle threats lately. It is suspected that Iran has weapons grade uranium and nuclear bomb technology. In addition they are getting sympathy from other rogue states like North Korea. Since Kim Jong-il had died last year, his son Kim Jong-un has taken over and so far does not seem any more enlightened than his father. This latest threat of a nuclear strike from Iran, is yet a further reason why I felt humanities days were numbered. On the other hand, humans have survived many wars, pollution, cancer, severe storms, and drought. This is probably just another episode in the continuing drama we call 'Life on Earth'.
Moving on from political drama I perused the science columns, then the book reviews, then the comic pages for a bit of light humour. Finally, the piece de resistance, the crossword page. After completing one of the forty-five minute puzzles, in thirty minutes, I heard Lynda coming down the stairs. "Good morning, Sweety", I smiled. She came over and gave me a peck on the top of my head and hugged my
shoulder. I reached around her waist and pulled her closer.
"Morning, how'd you sleep?" She asked.
"Not bad. There's some relatively fresh coffee in the kitchen."
"Hmm. Good idea." Her voice sounded drowsy.
"How did you sleep?" I asked. She walked toward the kitchen, breathing in the aroma of coffee with a deep inhalation.
"Okay. It took me awhile to get to sleep though. I've got to stop drinking tea at night."
"Yeah, me too." I offered.
To be continued....
I reached over and turned on the radio and tuned it to a local station. Music blared out the ending of a rock tune and faded quickly as an announcer cut in. "That was Pink Floyd and Fearless" he said quickly. "Say, did you guys feel that tremor just now?"
"Yeah, wasn't that something" a female announcer responded.
"I think my mic moved a few inches...Wow. 2012 here we come." the man said and the woman chuckled. They bantered on about inane facts and myths regarding earthquakes and the legend of 2012 for awhile as I tuned it out and finally turned it off.
The dream was one that I have been having with more and more frequency. I had never been awakened by actual tremors before. I looked over and watched my wife, Lynda, softly buzzing as she breathed through her nose apparently not disturbed by the quake. I was curious as to why she was never in my dream. I abruptly shook the dark thoughts surrounding it's possible meaning from my mind. The tremors were different this time; they did feel real. Surely, I thought, the tremors were coincidental to my dream. I shrugged and got out of bed. Life's events happened so randomly in my mind that the probability of two unrelated, and sometimes ironically intertwined events happening simultaneously seemed pretty good. I went down stairs and routinely filled the kettle and placed it on the stove. Setting the knob to 'high' I went to the front door to see if the newspaper had been delivered. Laying splayed open and mangled just as it usually was when the delivery girl threw it from ten feet away toward my door, I caught sight of the front page headline. "IRAN THREATENS ISRAEL WITH RETALIATION". I stooped and picked it up. I liked the Sunday paper, it was full of crosswords, book reviews and deeper coverage of world events. While many newspaper publishers were phasing out their printed editions and going online this one, the Vancouver Sun, still delivered a thick Sunday paper every week. I knew it was less environmentally friendly, but I liked the feel and sound of the paper as I flipped through it. The heady smell of relatively fresh ink was also comforting somehow.
When my family was younger, having an hour of peace in order to read the paper was hard to come by. But now that my daughters were grown and out of the house, I have gotten quite used to this luxury. I'm even a little disappointed if Lynda wakes up before I have an hour of quiet while I sip freshly brewed coffee and read the newspaper. As much as I love that woman, there are some things you need to do by yourself.
The front page article described the tension between Iran and the Israel, how it had been building over many years as the conflict over the Jewish settlers in the West Bank of Palestine with Hamas. Recently, the Palestinians have been less successful at attacking Israel due to a lack of resources. Some of the other Arab league nations are growing more and more impatient with the Israelis as they have taken an even harder line with the Palestinians. Iran, becoming more isolated and belligerent, has been making less subtle threats lately. It is suspected that Iran has weapons grade uranium and nuclear bomb technology. In addition they are getting sympathy from other rogue states like North Korea. Since Kim Jong-il had died last year, his son Kim Jong-un has taken over and so far does not seem any more enlightened than his father. This latest threat of a nuclear strike from Iran, is yet a further reason why I felt humanities days were numbered. On the other hand, humans have survived many wars, pollution, cancer, severe storms, and drought. This is probably just another episode in the continuing drama we call 'Life on Earth'.
Moving on from political drama I perused the science columns, then the book reviews, then the comic pages for a bit of light humour. Finally, the piece de resistance, the crossword page. After completing one of the forty-five minute puzzles, in thirty minutes, I heard Lynda coming down the stairs. "Good morning, Sweety", I smiled. She came over and gave me a peck on the top of my head and hugged my
shoulder. I reached around her waist and pulled her closer.
"Morning, how'd you sleep?" She asked.
"Not bad. There's some relatively fresh coffee in the kitchen."
"Hmm. Good idea." Her voice sounded drowsy.
"How did you sleep?" I asked. She walked toward the kitchen, breathing in the aroma of coffee with a deep inhalation.
"Okay. It took me awhile to get to sleep though. I've got to stop drinking tea at night."
"Yeah, me too." I offered.
To be continued....
No comments:
Post a Comment