March 24th. Good sleep, lots of dreams. No lucidity. No surprise.

Dreams

Didn’t bother to jot down notes after the dreams so my recall is low except for the last dream.

Visiting Houses

Me and my family (didn’t recognize any of them though) were visiting various houses. From the outside, they looked like small, quaint abodes. No reason to think they would be different on the inside from each other. However, inside, the houses were very different. In the first few houses the inside was just one, large room with bathroom, kitchen, bedroom and living room all in one space. In the first couple, beds were in the middle of the space, kitchens were just a sink and a stove, bathrooms were a toilet. As we continued, the houses began to change little by little. In the next few, the one room had better bathroom facilities such as an entire bathtub in the middle of the wall in the center and kitchen countertops with fridges that were very shallow and topped with microwaves. Still, as we progressed, the one room would  be sectioned off and a very tiny, bedroom would be in the space.

The last house we visited was very unlike the others. It was bigger inside and had levels, a kitchen, a reading nook and various small stairs leading to the levels. As we walked through, I marveled at the books in the space and the way it was decorated. 

The man who owned the house was there and he was very nice. When I looked closely at him he resembled someone familiar. His face was severely wrinkled, though, like he was very, very old.

At one point, I walked up some steps, leaning on the rails, which then broke under my weight. The owner approached and helped me. He said, “I need to fix that. Someone’s going to get hurt.” He peered over the rails, so I did, also, expecting a long drop. There wasn’t one.

I mentioned to the man how I liked his books and commented he had “all the good ones”. He laughed, pointing to a book I had just passed and saying, “That’s a sequel”. I continued back towards the front of the house. I marveled at a fish aquarium that was sealed in glass. It looked like a mini version of the one I have in waking life. I wondered how he could feed the fish but thought it a good idea that it was sealed, that way it never had to be cleaned. 

I liked the man’s house and thought, “I could live here.”

In Custody

I was driving a white care along a highway. My friend was in the car with me. I remember she and I were planning to go on a long trip but were doing some shopping before we left. I thought about driving on the highway and didn’t want to. It made me anxious. So, I told her, “I don’t want to drive on the highway. Maybe we can just keep shopping?” I kept driving. In my mind I was thinking it safer to stay close to town in a familiar area. 

As I drove, I kinda blanked out, staring off as if in a trance. I was pulled out of my reverie when my friend grabbed the wheel from me. I felt the car brake suddenly as it veered to the side of the road and came to a stop. I could do nothing but let it happen. My friend pointed and I saw a patrol car’s flashing lights behind us. 

I immediately jumped out of the car and apologized to the approaching officer, telling him I didn’t see him and feeling uncertain as to why he stopped me. I felt weird. I told him I had a headache and wasn’t feeling very good, which wasn’t true. I just didn’t know how to describe what I felt. He took me with him. I don’t recall being handcuffed, though.

Then I was inside a narrow building sitting in a seat that reminded me of the seats on a school bus. My husband was with me and my friend was gone. I was confused and didn’t know where I was. I remember the officer questioning us and seeing him writing on slips of paper, like tickets. This is when I became aware that I was wearing a warm, winter hat and a heavy coat because my head began to get warm and I took off the hat. I said, “I bet they’re wondering why I’m wearing a hat.” A woman, wearing a fleece hat, looked at me and I remember thinking I wasn’t the only one.

I got antsy as I waited, confused. Somehow, I ended up going for a walk outside the tiny police station. My friend was there again and I was talking aloud, wondering how we got there and where we were. The terrain was unfamiliar to where I thought we were going. What I recall seeing is tall, thick trees and vegetation, occasional boulders, and deep ditches. The road itself was only a two lane, paved highway, and very narrow. I could see no towns or evidence of people anywhere.

Eventually, I zoned out again. When I came out of my zombie-like state, I was walking north and all alone. I turned to look back at where I had come from and realized I had walked quite a distance from the station. I could see it, a blue, oblong container-like unit sitting amidst tall pine trees. So, I turned and ran back, hoping my absence wasn’t noticed and I wouldn’t get in more trouble. I dropped my black, winter coat somewhere along the roadside.

I entered the station, which again was very narrow and resembled the inside of a bus. No one seemed to notice my absence. The officer was handing out the judge’s decisions. They were in the form of letters in envelopes. The woman next to me was handed hers and then the officer handed me a piece of paper with lots of writing on it. It had my husband’s name on it, not mine. The slip indicated he was free to go, no charges, no fines. My husband wasn’t there, though.

Another person near me was being questioned before being released. The questions were about some pills he had with him. I had a visual of a small bag of tiny, pink pills. Specifically, the officer asked if the pills could be crushed and snorted, and, if so, would taking too many cause hemorrhage. I don’t remember the answer but I knew the answer was “yes” because I had a vision of someone’s nose bleeding uncontrollably.  

Confused, I wondered where my slip was. I was never handed one. Instead, the entire station began to move. I looked out the window and saw the scenery I had just seen on my walk. I thought, “Maybe I will find my coat on the side of the road somewhere.” Unfortunately, the road went by fast and I couldn’t make out anything on the side of it. 

Eventually, it was obvious we had traveled far beyond where I had walked. The scenery began to look more and more treacherous, with boulders, steep ditches, downed trees and obstacles that had been moved aside. I saw where the old road had been, a road that was familiar, but it had been closed because of downed trees and other damage. The bus went left on a detour road. This road was only two, well-traveled juts cut into dirt and gravel. 

I knew we were traveling in the opposite direction to where I wanted to go. In my mind, I saw us in Texas, traveling north. I somehow got it in my head that we were going to Waco. To my right, I saw a small town taking form. It looked like something from another time. I heard a voice over a loudspeaker as we passed the town but can’t remember what it said. Whatever it was, it made me nervous and upset and I didn’t want to be on the bus, going wherever it was going.

I began to panic because I had left my cell phone in my coat pocket. What would I do in this far away place without any way to communicate with the people I know? I told the officer up front, “I don’t have my phone. I left it in my jacket pocket, which I dropped on the road. I need my phone. I don’t remember anyone’s phone numbers.” I began to cry at the idea of being somewhere far away and having no way to communicate with anyone. This woke me up.

Interpretation

I think the second dream symbolizes heading “down the wrong road”. It seemed like a warning dream. 

The part where I don’t want to venture out on the highway but opt to stay close to town and the familiar is very much how I am in life. It is easier and feels safer to keep things as they are. It is familiar and comfortable. 

I zone out twice in the dream. “Zoning out” in the dream is me losing awareness or sleepwalking. It is symbolic of how I’ve been lately. I let things continue as is, going into a kind of automaticity. Something unexpected wakes me up and I am forced to stop. Then, the police take me. Police symbolize an intervention by higher forces; fate. 

Then I spent the rest of the dream confused and unable to stop what is happening. There is a moment where I talk with my friend about heading north (typically a good direction to go) but then I zone out again, losing time and panicking about leaving the police station. So, I recognize the station/police as needed/necessary. Or maybe I just return because I am confused and see the station/police as a safe place?

The most memorable symbol is the heavy winter coat I am wearing. Coats = protection. I drop it and my phone (communication) and then wish I hadn’t. 

Also, I think Waco maybe symbolizes “Wacko”, as in “crazy”. My daughter often calls Waco by the name as a joke because of the Branch Davidian tragedy that occurred there.