Dreamy Anna in Real Life, 2010

I awoke a half hour or so before the alarm.  I had been dreaming – not exactly a nightmare but one of those confused, unsettling kinds of dreams that contained pieces of reality in nonsensical ways.  Some of my cousins were modeling wedding dresses from the past and I was somehow responsible for getting them to the restaurant (not the church) on time.  The neighbors were already there eating their dinners and waiting for the ‘show’ and, of course, the cousins were not paying one whit of attention to my efforts to move things along.  “A lot like herding cats,” was one of my first waking thoughts.  That and a feeling of dread that the event would go on without us and with other participants entirely.

Dreamy Dale in Real Life, 1934

In real life, those particular cousins played “dress-up” a lot when they were kids and now their own children eagerly get into the costume trunk when they are in Oysterville.  I’m not sure it holds any wedding dresses, though.  And, in another piece of reality, years ago I was actually involved in organizing a luncheon entertainment at the Shelburne Hotel in which folks modeled period clothing.  I remember David Campiche and Tony Kischner cutting quite a figure in old-fashioned bathing suits.          And, of course, my years of “herding” first graders, no doubt entered into that dream.

But mostly I was left with a sense of urgency – not so much that I had to get something done but that something of moment was about to happen and, somehow, it wasn’t a good thing.  And, try as I might, I wouldn’t be involved… Oh, yeah.  It’s Inauguration Day. And, no, I have no desire to turn on the television.

Dreamy Helen in Real Life, 1897

Long ago, one of my friends told me in all seriousness not to ever reveal my dreams to anyone unless I was prepared to look deeply into my psyche and, perhaps, seek counselling.  So, I probably shouldn’t be writing a blog about this dream.  Or, for that matter, the daymare that is to follow.

*According to Merriam-Webster, a daymare is a nightmarish fantasy experienced while awake and ‘mare’ is from the Old English and meant an evil preternatural being causing nightmares.