REALITY INTRUDING INTO DREAMS

Yesterday I had two extremely intense dreams.

No, not last night - yesterday when I was trying to catch up on a lot of hours of missed sleep.

In the first one, I was a Muslin woman, in some kind of underground city. I was picking up trash that had been flung all over the sidewalks, and there were people pointing their finger at me and laughing.

The second dream was trying to convince my family (who, as happens in dreams, were completely different people that I am actually related to) that I had to get some sleep (this is some of the reality intruding) and if they would just leave me alone and let me rest, I would stop going as crazy as I was getting in the dream (which, believe me, was pretty insane... but this is also a dream where John Krasinski becomes a close, family member).

Pysch 101 would explain #2 dream - I'm exhausted, I've got several people tugging at my hemline, and I have an extremely unhealthy crush on the character of Jim Halpert.

And #1 is very clear to me.

I've been reading a book by Karen Armstrong about the prophet Muhammad. Very readable and respectful to Islam, but also a very human look at the prophet and his people dealing with a growing religion.

I don't think it occurs to many Latter-Day Saints that we have a lot of similarities to Muslims. We both have a latter-day prophet - we were both pushed out of quite a few areas before we found somewhere we could settle - we were pioneers in women's rights (yes - Muhammad was, for his time, a radical supporter of women's right).

Perhaps because of reading this book, I feel a sudden affinity with Muslims.

And although it wasn't as much fun as having Jim Halpert (perhaps I should rephrase that), it makes sense for this to show up in my dreams.

MY SON, MY SON, WOULD GOD I HAD DIED FOR THEE, MY SON

My dog went to the vet's early this morning for some routine dental work.

And came home late late this evening unable to move his tongue or his back legs.

He's going to be fine - but he has had most of this teeth removed, he is still bleeding from one side of his mouth, and he is moaning with almost every breath he takes.

The feeling of deja vu for me is overwhelming.

When my daughter was six or seven, she had to have eight teeth removed surgically. And I could not convince her to take the pain medication when I brought her home - so in about two hours, she was in severe pain.

It's so difficult to see someone suffering when they have no concept of why they are in such agony.

And tonight, driving home with my dog's head in my lap, trying to comfort him and also drive a stick-shift for 21 miles, I had a spiritual insight.

This is what God feels like, most of the time.

He loves us, so completely, and continually sees us in pain, hurting, without any real idea of why we are suffering.

And He wants so much to tell us, "It's just for a moment! It's going to end really soon! It's going to be okay!" And He listens to us whimpering and moaning and wallowing, not understanding that the hurt is just temporary, it's going to leave, and we will gain something from it.

Murray will be pain-free from his teeth that have been hurting him for a long time. But he certainly doesn't understand that right now. And all my reassurances in the world aren't helping.

Heavenly Father, I'll try to be more patient next time when I am hurting, and attempt to trust You more.

AN EMPTY HOUSE

Many empty-nesters moan and groan about how lonely & empty their homes seem when the last child moves out.

When my youngest moved out (finally), I cheered and celebrated (TWO extra bottles of Diet Coke and a sandwich from Quizno's).

It left only one male creature to pick up after... let me clarify that, one HUMAN male to pick up after.

I still have the dog, horse and cat, but they take care of their books, usually don't leave laundry half-done, and rarely leave any dishes unlicked.

The dogs are always more than willing to warn me of dangers such as the UPS man (somehow the FedEx guy is perfectly okay), the garbage truck, and rabbits grazing in the back yard.

But today, both of the dogs are at the vet's getting their teeth cleaning.

It's oddly quiet.

And I'm not at all certain that I like it.


I guess I am now slightly sympathetic to those people who do moan about their kids leaving.

I miss 'em.

HALLOWEEN AT THE BORDER

There are advantages and disadvantages about living where I live.

It's true that you can't just run out and pick up a gallon of milk down the road.... unless you have a milk cow or goat on your property... and actually I have a neighbor with two milk goats, so....

You do continually get charged by your cell phone carrier for international calls, since the cell towers in Mexico are closer than the ones in Arizona.

And bright floodlights occasionally fill your bedroom when the Border Patrol is hunting someone in the middle of the night.

Well, okay, maybe it's not just occasionally.

But you don't have to purchase any Halloween candy.... at least not any candy that you don't want to eat yourself.

Because we don't get any trick-or-treaters. Mainly because it's pitch black out here after 6:45 p.m..

Seriously.

No street lights, only porch lights that are motion activated. Add to that dirt roads, houses that are frequently a quarter of a mile away from each other, and a relentless stream of illegal immigrants

So you don't even need pumpkins like this one around to scare everyone off.

But wait a minute, do you think this could help the Border Patrol and scare off some of the illegals?

THE SHOE ON THE OTHER FOOT

As a parent, there are times that your heart simply jumps into your throat.

When your child does not get off the school bus you have been waiting for.

The first time they drive off in your car without you.

Their first date, or dance, or year at college.

Having a child is having your heart live outside of your body.

Last night, my son got to experience that sensation.

I had told him I was going to be at a church meeting Thursday evening, and I even had put it on the family calendar.

However, my husband decided at the last moment to also attend this same meeting.

So our son came home to an empty house - no note from us about where we were - and only one car gone (which somehow threw the world every more off balance).

And the dogs refused to tell him where we had gone to.

He called our cell phones (which were both off since we were at the church) - called his sisters - the state highway patrol - he even called the emergency room at the hospital just to make certain we hadn't been in some horrible massacre or terrorist attach (which would have been masochist bliss for his dad, that's for sure).

Poetic justice... at last.

JUST SOME NICE THOUGHTS

COLD AS ICE

The coldest temperature ever recorded in the world (outside of a lab, I mean) was at Vostok, Antarctica, at minus 89.2 °C (-128° F, for all you non-metric Americans).

The coldest in the U.S.A. was -62.11° C (–79.8°F) at Prospect Creek Camp in northern Alaska.

The coldest in Arizona was at Hawley Lake -40° C (-40° F - and isn't that cool that it's the same both in Celsius and Fahrenheit?)

Sierra Vista got down to 11° C. (11° F) in 1985 (and I'm not making this up!), with the lowest recorded in Palominos, Arizona has been the same.

That puts our local weather report back in perspective - tomorrow night is predicted to get as cold as -5° C. (23° F).

ATTENTION FELLOW SOUTHERN ARIZONANS - WE ARE NOT GONNA DIE.

But now we have a GREAT excuse to go shopping tonight!