Last night, I had this very powerful dream. In some ways, it's very easy to interpret, and in other ways, well, I'm just going to have to think about it:
I am with a group of people - we all live in the same apartment building - and we are sitting in the communal patio. I distinctly remember another middle-aged woman, a middle-aged man, a younger man with a young boy, about 5 years old, my son (who is an amalgamation of all my sons), and a younger woman. It is sunny, but late in the day. The patio is constructed to be mostly out in the open, but there is a small part that is under a concrete overhang. This is where I am sitting with the young child, at one of the picnic benches.
While we're there, laughing and talking, the sky darkens into evening. There is some talk about unusual weather patterns, and I notice that the boy is looking up at the concrete above us. I glance up, and see nothing unusual, but he keeps staring intensely, his eyes darting from one side to another, as though he's following some movement there. Every once in a while I glance up, and suddenly see huge droplets of water bubble from the concrete. I see now that there is an almost invisible plastic barrier coating the concrete, and the droplets are actually between the concrete and the plastic. I hurriedly point this out to the others and we agree it's time to go inside.
By now, the sky has not only darkened into night, but became overcast with thick clouds. There is something very dramatic about them, and we pause for a minute to observe them. While the clouds are very thick, they are distinct and individual. Each cloud, especially the long ones, appear to be split in two lengthwise by a flash of bright lightening, creating a brilliant red scar, which closes up again just as quickly. This is played out in each cloud, creating a surreal and totally unnatural and never-before-seen light show. As stunning as this is, we spare no more than a minute to observe it, but hurry indoors. We are not quick enough to avoid the beginning drizzle, which is now coming down with gigantic water drops, each some two-three inches across. Someone makes a feeble joke about being hit with water balloons.
The entire building is now abuzz with activity, as people come out into the hallways to talk about what is happening. We all agree that something cataclysmic is occurring. While we do go into our individual apartments, we leave our doors open, and in some cases, we group together. The friends I was with outside all come into my apartment and we begin to take stock of food, water, and other supplies. My "son" takes it upon himself to go to the other apartments to encourage the same kind of inventory.
Time passes, and while all is chaos outside, in the apartment we feel somewhat safe, and some of us drop off to sleep. Not willing to actually go to bed, I nod off sitting on the couch. After some time, I wake up, and go into my bedroom, and am startled to see the middle-aged man and woman in the midst of love-making. They laugh, totally unconcerned, and once done, they get up and put on housecoats. They say that especially now, life is just too short to let go of these simple pleasures. I am warmed by this life-affirming act.
The younger woman now also comes in, and we all just sit around and talk. It begins to get very warm, and the older woman suddenly whips off her housecoat, standing nude and proud. I laugh, and say, "Why, it's like our own Red Tent here!" After a moment, she pulls on the housecoat again, jokingly saying she wouldn't want to scare the children.
The wild storms outside continue, we now realize that all will end - it's only a matter of time - but there is no panic. We have enough food to last us all for several days, a huge sense of true community washes over us, and we just settle in to wait for the inevitable.
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