In My Wildest Dreams, Part II

Another installment of the on-going saga of my unconscious thoughts…

The Dream: As the dream started, I was standing by a large brick house, overlooking some rolling California-like hills that were dotted with valley oaks. It was a sunny day with a few big puffy clouds blowing by on a strong wind. Then I noticed that there was something else, a dark object, blowing up and around in the sky. It came down closer to the ground and a woman on distant train trestle caught it – it was her leather jacket.

Since it was so windy, I decided to put my own jacket in the trunk of the car. My mother-in-law and I were going to go someplace on foot and then planned to come back later so she could take me to the airport. As I walked toward the car, a very large, dark metallic maroon roadster (sort of like the BMW M3 my father-in-law drives, only about twice the size and with a very rounded rear-end, like an Audi TT), I noticed there were a bunch of people in woods (and these were deciduous, east coast-type woods) in front of the car. I then saw one of the women in the woods take a picture of me as I was putting away my things in the luggage-filled trunk. I asked her what she was doing, but she just walked off.

At this point, my mother-in-law came out of the house and was standing about ten feet from the passenger side of the car. I turned the key to lock the trunk and the car started up and began to move forward. Aaack. So I turned the key the other way and the car went in reverse as I jumped out of the way.

The car was going to hit the corner of the house (I didn’t recognize the house, but it was the same house from the start of the dream and on a hill like all of my mother-in-law’s various homes over the years). So I jumped on running board (!) of the car, reached through the open window, somehow got the key in the ignition and turned it the other way. The car stopped just inches from ramming the house.

But then the car was started forward toward the woods and I was stuck hanging on the side of the car turning the key back and forth to keep it from hitting things. Then, for some reason, I was thinking that it was exactly like my paper shredder after it jams -- if it goes back and forth enough, it will eventually automatically stop. And with that thought, I woke up.

The Reasons: Okay, this is one of those dreams where I have not a clue as to its meaning or even its origin. I emptied my shredder a couple of days ago and the car was vaguely shaped like the one in all the ads for the new Batman movie, but that is it. Why the California hills, my mother-in-law, wind, trains, furtive photography and so on? Who knows.

I often have dreams that I am in a car I cannot control (although it has always been one of my own cars). Usually it is the brakes that do not work, but other times it is the steering. And I typically have this type of dream when I am stressed out about something. But I cannot even figure out what could be bothering me at the moment. RWT is off on a business trip, so yesterday was and today will be pretty carefree.

Hmm, perhaps it is because of the get-together I am hosting next Tuesday for my Ballroom II class. I’ve not done much planning for it. Maybe, I’d better go make a list of things to do for the party in hopes of having less frenetic dreams tonight.