NEW CLASS, WALK IN THE GARDENS, A CHARMING CAFE

I had three distinct dreams last night, the first one I woke up from at around 2:30 a.m.  It's the one I remember the least.  I am in a large, old-fashioned class-room.  There is sunlight coming in through the windows and making the wood desks and floor gleam brightly.  All other there are adults, and are sitting on top of desks in a cluster, while the facilitator explains how it is necessary to create a new level or class of Emergency Medical Staff (she uses the term EMS).  Some participants, I now see, are wearing dark blue uniforms that correspond with this occupation.


The next two dreams sort of blend into one another, but I know were dreamed at two separate times:


I am walking in a garden with a younger man and two children, a boy and a girl.  Although their presence is vague, I feel that this is my son and my grandchildren, Abby and Owen.  Both appear much younger than they are now. I know I am holding the girl's hand, and I tell them that I will show them something very beautiful.  The garden is very large, with many different flower and vegetable beds, with bright green lawns between them.  There are also fruit trees all around providing shade.  We all walk towards the back of the garden, which is ablaze with clumps of tiger lilys.  The little girl squeals with delight and runs around touching all the blooms.  She comes back and grabs her brother's hand and they run from one patch to another.  My son and I watch them fondly, sitting in the shade of the nearby tree.  


Suddenly he looks at something in the grass and calls the children to him.  They come reluctantly.  I now see what he sees - two large salemander-like animals, dappled-gray on top, and almost black on the bottom, with the long red tongues flicking out.  I know they are harmless, just looking for a way to get back to the pond, and I take the opportunity to show them to the children.  My son, however, does not feel so kindly towards them, and takes the children away from the area.  We all walk back towards the house in pleasant conversation.


Third dream - I am on Main Street at the west end of Hamilton waiting for a bus.  One comes and I get on it.  I am aware that I am dreaming and that all I'm seeing is very normal.  As we approach the downtown core, the bus suddenly turns left into Summer Lane, where the art gallery is.  This startles me, and I say out loud that this is not the route.  Someone responds by saying that a new route has been established to accommodate the new stores that have opened up.  "Ah yes, I remember now", I say as we go down the underpass.  I see a group of people waiting to get on the bus, and on impulse, decide to get off and explore the new establishments.


The entire section is very trendy and reminds me of what the old Yorkville district in Toronto used to be.  Struck by that thought, I begin to look for a coffee-house. Sure enough, I find one - it's a few steps up from the sidewalk, and in through a narrow door.  I walk into a darkened room filled with dark wood tables and chairs.  There are some deep comfortable couches along one wall, and someone from a particularly darkened corner, is playing soft jazz on the piano.  


The place is occupied by some people, who look up as I come in.  They smile broadly and wave me over, saying, "In this place, no one sits alone!"  I join them - mostly young gay men (they are quite open about this), who are working on a beautiful beaded tapestry.  I gladly join them and take up a needle.  The owner, another young gay man, comes over to take our orders, and stops to chat with me for a few minutes.  He confides that he wasn't prepared for all the work this place would entail, nor for the "excrament" that other people put him through.  But he smiles as he says he wouldn't change it for all the tea in China.  "And speaking of tea in China..." he laughs as he runs to the back to get our drinks.