Yarmulke

I dreamed of a dream last night, or of a dream that may have also been a real experience within the dream. I was walking in a park in Salt Lake. It wasn't a bright day. At the base of this great tree there was a wooden park bench, and upon it was reclined a young woman from some middle eastern country. She was pregnant. She was also knitting. I stopped to talk to her. I told her I was a knitter too and expressed interest in what she was making--it was a large, colorful circle. She told me it was a pad for her belly, to wear between her body and her clothing. She told me her belly always leaked fluids when she was pregnant and kept her dress wet, and this pad was to help with that. Then to my right, and at nearly a right angle to the first park bench, there appeared another bench, and upon it sat this young woman's mother, also wearing their national costume. Both of these women were unveiled. I thought that the mother felt some disapproval of me. I turned to the mother and asked, "Do you know what a yarmulke is?" Just as the words were coming out of my mouth, I noticed she was wearing a colorful hat or tam on top of her head that resembled a yarmulke. With a little annoyance, she pointed a finger toward her head and said something like, "Well, of course!" Then I said, unruffled, that what the young woman was knitting for her belly reminded me of a yarmulke.

Still within the dream, I think I told Rob about this dream/experience afterward, with some emphasis on the belly covering, and he seemed to find it all significant.

I tried telling my former best friend from 20+ years ago, Sue, about it. She was sitting in a lawn chair in front of the house I grew up in. She seemed to be listening, but out of the corner of my eye, I noticed she was doing something strange with her hands as I spoke, something that reminded me of my sister-in-law Jeanne's compulsive muscle testing. I continued on telling her the experience/dream, and when my peripheral vision saw her repeating the same hand gestures, I turned and looked at her straight, and she was counting something up on her fingers. She wasn't listening at all--in fact, she was trying to count up experiences from her mission that something I had said at first had reminded her of, and she intended to regale me with her mission stories rather than listen to what I was saying. I stopped my telling dead in its tracks and shifted the conversation to Sue, and she never noticed that I hadn't finished. As she talked, I noticed that Sue was wearing a beautifully white blouse, a soft polyester, well-made (as well-made as polyester can be), with sort of a lacy pattern where there were more transparent areas of the polyester. As she talked, I wondered where she had gotten this blouse and chuckled at myself for actually wanting something polyester. I concluded she probably got it at Sears or some other department store.

Then I was talking on the phone with Gary, and for some reason I started telling him about the dream. I was talking slowly and carefully, and felt very aware of my inability to relate things well in conversation, and I wondered if he was getting bored of listening. I got about halfway through and happened to look up into the dark sky and I saw a young man coming down slowly, hanging from a small, brightly colored parachute. I described with surprise and delight what I was seeing to Gary. I watched the young man descend and disappear into some distant trees, and then noticed a little light reflecting off what appeared to be a fan of strings going upward from the young man's parachute. I looked higher in the sky to see what they were attached to, and far up was another, larger parachute, a bright red one, that reminded me a little of a hot air balloon.

•••••••••••••

4 Imported Comments:

Chemical Billy said...
Geo, I'm not sure why, but this dream made me cry. Not in a sad way. The meanings of dreams are slippery, I know you know, but so interesting: the yarmulke, a head covering to show respect in the presence of God, covering the pregnant woman's belly. And the young man parachuting gently to earth. Both intensely beautiful images, and in the context of what you've been going through in the last few years, so powerful...

4/6/06 10:10 PM


Geo said...
It's just like you to "get it" and feel it, billy. I can't stop thinking about this dream. Thanks for sharing it with me in this way. Next time I'll leave ol' Sue out of the dream and YOU can wear the white polyester blouse.

6/6/06 7:40 PM


compulsive writer said...
I had the same response. And it was all about the beautiful images. Because I don't know you I have no idea from what context they originate, but I am moved in much the same way nonetheless.

I was going to write you about my latest dream, but it will definitely ruin the mood. So maybe I'll e-mail you.

6/6/06 8:01 PM


Geo said...
c.w.: You too? I'm glad you told me!

I hope you will share your dream. Don't worry about ruining the mood--this isn't going anywhere, at least not for me. It lingers, and I keep musing on what it means.

6/6/06 10:42 PM