DREAMS
The Unmoored Whimsy of the Sleeping Mind
Dreaming, lucidity, and the delightful abstraction of reason
I had a dream the other day in which I saw my dog who had passed away. But in it, I didn’t realize that anything was amiss. The suspension of the world I’ve known for years was gentle and unassuming. I accepted it without question.
But oddly, while I dreamt, I still had the sense of reason to know the correct date at the time. It was leap day.
I sat on the sofa beside my dog and calculated how many leap days she and I had spent together. Unaware of the nearly four years without her, I quietly reveled in the moment and caressed her graying black fur as I counted up the time.
6 leap days… how is that possible?
I double-checked my math.
6 leap days… times… once every 4 years… and 1 dog year is equivalent to 7 human years. 6 x 4 x 7 = 168!? Boo is 168??
But, even while I knew the day of the year and could engage in middle school mathematics, I lacked the reason to wonder “Could this be a dream?”
It’s incredible that she’s still alive after all these years. We should really spend more time together. Why haven’t I been walking her lately?
