A Whiter Smile

While visiting my parents, I come across a bottle of tooth whitening powder in the bathroom. It belongs to my brother. It claims to work in one application. I dip my finger in the powder and scrub my teeth with it. It does work, leaving my teeth noticably whiter. It also makes my gums bleed quite a bit.

Note: I had a Freudian psychotherapist once who told me that dreaming about losing teeth is a castration issue.

Weddings and Lions

I am getting married to a wonderful man. He was previously married to my sister or close friend, who, in a fit of crazy, lopped off most of his wanker. This doesn't seem to be a problem in our relationship. My mother has been making me a suit to wear for the wedding. The skirt is made out of a Halloween print on a purple background. I am busy sewing trim onto the sleeves of the jacket when I see my bridesmaids. They are wearing long, elegant dresses (irl, the dress I'll be wearing for my cousin's wedding). My funny Halloween suit is completely inappropriate. I go into my walk in closet and dig frantically for anything that might be dressier. My mom, having seen the bridesmaids too, comes in to see me. She's worried too. I decide that since I have a few hours I'll just go shopping for a real wedding dress at David's Bridal.

I am watching a nature TV show with my brother. There's a shot of a large iceberg, and as the camera moves in, animal sounds can be heard coming from a sort of cave under a ledge of ice. I wonder how a wolf pup could have gotten himself separated from his family and found himself there. But when the camera gets to the animal it turns out to be even more strangely, a lion cub. The show follows the young lion as he makes his way south, his mane growing in as he moves toward warmer climates. I wonder if he'll remember the deep cold when he sits under the hot African sun.

A Working Riot

I am in some sort of court setting. There is a man there with silver hair who is accusing the government of all sorts of conspiracies to harm the people. I keep trying to point out that bad things are more often the result of error prone human beings making crappy decisions out of fear and self interest. He makes more inflammitory comments and a riot erupts. Someone points a rifle at me. I run out of the building (along with lots of other people). A division of my husband's company is down the street. I see two people with rocket launches aiming at the building I'm running toward. For some reason they don't make contact. I get inside the building and ask for my husband's boss because I know he speaks English (am I in another country?). I also hope that my smattering of German may help me communicate, but everyone seems able to speak English. Someone is giving me a tour of the place. I comment on the fact that the building is exactly the same as the one where my husband works. They tell me they do that on purpose so workers moving from one location to another have an easier time. The man who caused all the trauma in the first place is in the building too. He keeps trying to engage me, and I keep leaving the room he's in before I scream at him. Not only is he an idiot, but he seems amused that he's started a riot, a riot at which my life was threatened.

Waking Up Male

I wake up and find that I'm a man. I am in hiding from someone or something, and this is the disguise I've been given. It is only temporary. I am delighted at the strength and power of my new body. I flex my muscles a lot. I roll my shoulders, swinging my arms and marvel at the feeling of taking up so much space. And being entitled to that space. It occurs to me that I should be testing out the equipment below (just for the purpose of science, of course), but I'm in a hurry and don't have time.

Moving Shipwreck

My parents are moving to Beaverton OR. I am moving with them. At some point it troubles me that I am still living with them and this upheaval in their life means an upheaval in mine since I am 35 years old. The moment passes quickly. I’m mostly excited because I have friends who live in the Portland area, and I’m hoping to see them more often after we move. I’ve also had employment issues that I hope will be resolved after we move.

There are two people in a small dingy, adrift at sea. A Japanese ship is in the area and hears something on the radio about survivors of a wreck. They are on an important mission, but when someone on the crew sees the tiny boat, they stop and pull the two people aboard. They are given food and water and warm clothes. The Japanese intercept another boat and hand the shipwreck survivors off so they can move onto their mission. The boat sails into a remote part of the ocean with no intention of ever seeing land again. They detonate a small nuclear device aboard their ship killing themselves and unknown to them, a small pod of whales. The pod of whales had just begun to recover from near extinction a few years prior.

Note: the second dream was viewed and narrated more like a movie than a dream, a strange style for me.

Strange Friendships

I am looking for a job. A woman from a temp agency has left a couple of messages on the phone about some jobs. One of them sounds really interesting – working retail at a new jewelry store that’s in my favorite part of downtown. I don’t call about the job; it’s too late or too early or the weekend. I go to that part of town to wander around, try to find the store. I run into my old friend from college, R. She wants to catch up but is super busy. I follow her back to her place, a studio apartment in a business district that she’s turning into a jewelry store. She’s the person looking for someone to work in her new store. Her jewelry is lovely, and I tell her I’d be honored to help her get on her feet.

Note: R turned out to be a terrible friend, and I can’t imagine that I would be happy to see her in real life. The “downtown” is the same one I’ve dreamt of many times before.

Neighbors and Best Friends

I am visiting my parents. I find 5 little girls outside with no one watching them. They are around 2 years old and have linked their arms. They seem more like dolls than real children. A few of them are missing their shorts. I am very concerned. My parents tell me that their sitter is next door, spending the afternoon with the man who lives there. She’s done this before. I am appalled and indignant. Against the advice of my parents I take the girls next door. The man answers the door, and I tell him that these children are his girlfriend’s job, a job she needs to take care of. He invites me inside, but instinctively I refuse. He seems charming enough. He smiles at me and reaches for a shotgun. I begin running for my parents’ house as he casually loads the gun. I dive for my parents’ front porch as he shoots at me. He misses. I tell my dad to call 911. He hesitates but does what I ask.

I am at a job where I work in a cubicle. Some friends and coworkers come by to talk excitedly about the vacation we have coming this week. I knew it was a long weekend, but it turns out to be an entire week. We talk about finding cheap, last minute flights to places far away from there. I find an odd little airline offering round trip tickets to the East Coast for $300. I trip is strange. The plane is quite small, and the pilot comes back to chat with us a few times. As we approach the Rocky Mountains, one woman is panicked, pointing out to the pilot that we aren’t flying high enough to clear the peaks. He laughs at her and says his plane can’t go that high, he’s got to swerve around them. The woman looks like she may be sick. He tells her he’s just kidding and goes back to the cockpit to adjust our altitude. We land on some small, island airport, what I imagine Martha’s Vineyard must be like. My friend P has sent a car to pick me up to take me to her house. She’s busy with something and won’t be home until later, but her husband is there. I’ve never met him before so it’s a little weird. My son is with me, but he seems to be more of dog than a child. I clean up, get ready, and wait for P to get home. We’ll go get our other friend V at the airport together. Her flight, from another part of the country, lands much later. When P gets home I hug her and weep.

Garden Snakes

I am outside, sitting in a chair, reading a book about gardening. I am imagining all the wonderful things that I could do in this yard. I look down at the ground around my chair and notice a snake curled in the grass. The author of this book never mentions snakes in her garden. I decide I don’t really want to garden. I carefully get out of the chair so as not to disturb the snake. I walk toward the back porch. There is another very big snake stretched out in the grass between me and the back porch. It scares me, but I avoid it. My mom is on the back porch, and I tell her that I’ve decided I don’t want to garden.

Note: I am actually reading a book about gardening at the moment.