Yesterday, at dinner with friends, we spoke about traveling. Traveling to places we were helping to go and places we’ve been. Last night, I had a very vivid, colorful dream. Much like Dorothy’s dream of the land of Oz.
My dream takes place in a very large hotel complex. There are several hotels and parking structures next to each other, kind of like a travelers disneyland. The setting reminds me of Sonoma county, with its rolling hills covered in it’s summer tan-colored grass.
Tin man, Lion, and Scarecrow
There were several people in the dream who I’ve not seen in quite a long time. One of them was a lab equipment technician named Mike. Another was his female partner, who often came to our labs when Mike wasn’t available. Sadly, I can’t recall her name. They, like me, were Road Warriors in this dream. We joked about past nights out and how much fun we had then.
In one scene, it’s night and I’m a passenger in a car. The area looks like Petaluma Hill Road as it leaves the South end of my Sonoma County hometown of of Santa Rosa. We’re looking for the freeway onramp to practice our departure the next morning. Looking out the car’s window, I can look back at the huge Hotel complex we are staying at. I cannot remember who is driving the car.
In another scene, a group of us have checked in to one of many hotels in the complex, and we’re looking for the elevator to go up to a room. We can’t find the elevator so we decide to take the stairs. The stairs are glass-walled and as we’re climbing them, we can see a glorious sunset.
The land of Oz
We leave the staircase as we reach our floor. We enter the hotel corridor and we come across a food kiosk. When we checked into the hotel, we were assigned one of these food kiosks at which we were to eat. These food kiosks remind me of those tiny little shops in an airport. Not very wide, not very deep, but stocked full of things to buy.
As I come across one of them, I see a group of people at one of these kiosks. One of the men there looks like Mike from the old Placer County Latino Democrats. He’s explaining to someone that this particular spot has the best food. It’s not the one assigned to him, but it’s the one he’s going to eat at.
In the next scene, I’m walking across one of the entrances to the parking lot. It reminds me of a second or third story mall parking lot entrance. At one point, rather than stay on the sidewalk, I’m walking across the parking lot entrance over what looks kind of like wide concrete railroad ties. There are gaps through which you can see to the floors below.
As I’m walking across I drop my paperwork. It almost falls down through the cracks. I managed to soccer kick the paperwork to the other side of the driveway, onto the sidewalk. As I walk across to pick my paperwork, the parking lot attendant looks out and says to me “you won’t be doing that again.” Greatly relieved, I respond “your goddamn right.”
Back in Kansas
This dream was particularly vivid, long, and full of old friends. I wish I knew why.
The hotel aspect reminds me of the days when I would be on the road for work. The people were from my past. Perhaps, just like the road warrior days, it’s something I remember with a bit of fondness.
At dinner last night, our friends and I spoke of places like Yosemite National Park’s Wawona Hotel, our Friend’s summer working in Yellowstone National Park, and the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Chicago. We also spoke of some Tweeps (twitter people/friends) I have in the UK and Europe, some of my wife’s long-time internet friends in Scotland and the UK (from the days of CompuServe!), and people we currently work with. I can only assume they inspired some of the people and events in my dream.
I can’t wait for the next vivid, colorful dream. As in Dorothy’s dream, the possibilities are boundless.