In a dream early this morning I experienced a place I’ve never been but which consisted of elements of various places I’ve either lived or been. A wall of glass doors and windows at the back of the house, much like my current home, looked out over a large back yard that sloped steeply away from the house. An enormous fig tree blocked the view to the left. At the back of the yard, a tall wood fence topped with two or three feet of chain link fence marked the edge of the property. Beyond the fence, a mass of dense underbrush stretched as far as the eye could see. I was standing at one of the windows when I saw a large cat, a tiger I think, peer over through the chain links. Another big cat, a leopard, nudged the tiger aside and peered over. Next, a bobcat poked its head over the fence. The bobcat was much larger than real bobcats. It was only slightly smaller than the other two cats. I called Janine to come look, but as soon as she came through the door (which I somehow knew led to the garage), the cats slipped out of sight. I pointed to where they had been and she stared intently at the spot. In an instant, the huge fig tree began shaking violently. As we wondered what could be causing such shaking, an enormous black bear climbed down from the tree and ran toward the back fence. As it ran, though, it became apparent to both of us that it was not a bear. It was a gigantic skunk, all black with no white stripe. Suddenly, I wondered where the dogs were. No sooner had the question come to my mind than I saw both of them at the back door, wagging their tails wildly as torrential rain drenched them. Worried that the creatures outside the house might hurt them, I hurried to open the door between the garage and the back yard. I opened the top of the Dutch door and the dogs jumped up on the ledge of the lower part of the door and climbed over into the garage. And then the doorbell rang. I think it was about then I woke up.
I don’t know the last time I saw a Dutch door. I bet it must have been sometime in my childhood. I’ve not had a dog since childhood. And I am relatively sure I’ve not seen large wild cats climbing around my back yard since…forever. But something about the place (aside from a wall of mostly glass) suggested placed I’ve known. And I think, in the dream, I was conscious that the house may have been in Africa, a place I’ve never been. Odd stuff. And the bear-turned-skunk was an odd experience unlike any I’ve had, but the way the bear shimmied down the huge fig tree looked like I think a bear would look shimmying down a fig tree. I’ve probably seen enough videos of bears coming out of trees that my recollections of those scenes flowed into my dream.
Oh, there was more to the dream, but I just don’t recall what else. I just know there was more, but my mind just won’t allow it to come to the surface. A psycho-surgery procedure might unearth the rest of the dream, but I’m a little hesitant to go asking for such a procedure lest the surgeons either: 1) accommodate my request; or 2) have me involuntarily committed for making it. Early this morning, after I awoke from the dream, I did a bit of research on psycho-surgery, simply because the term popped into my head out of nowhere. I wonder if there’s a connection with my dream? Who knows?
