Weird Dream

Well here I am at the hotel Kasson. Just fired-up the ol' laptop for the first time since my vacation in November. Took an hour to get all the various updates.

I did not sleep well last night; strange house with strange noises - and some not so strange noises. And a really weird dream.

But first, exciting news on the best meal I've had in a restaurant in Juneau in a good long while. Last evening I was going to try out the new Italian joint downtown. But there were only a couple of folks in the place - and it looked deadly quiet. So I went next door to Zephyr which is the Mediterranean restaurant that has been open several years - although I have not dined there in over a year.

Since there were several folks at the wine bar I made myself comfortable and had a couple of pre-dinner glasses of wine for medicinal purposes. And while I was sitting there in comes my old friend Kate Tesar and Kent Dawson, one of the more capable lobbyists working the Capitol. Kate and Kent were soon joined by Kent's wife, Jenny, and former Lieutenant Governor Fran Ulmer who is currently Chancellor of the University of Alaska, Anchorage. We had a nice chat. Fran looks great - the academic life must be suiting her well.

Everyone else was then seated at a table while I remained at the bar. I ordered braised lamb with couscous and chick peas. It was FABULOUS.

The reason I mention all of this is that I'm sure my visit with former Capitol persons prompted my dream last night. I typically don't remember much of dreams; but I was sleeping so fitfully last night that this one seems to have lodged in the brain box pretty well.

It started out at some sort of potlatch. Former Senator John Sackett was there as were my former co-worker, Marla Berg, and former boss, Al Adams. That part is kinda murky.

But THEN Marla, Al, and I were on the ice in the midst of a seal hunt. Lots of folks hunting lots of seals with spears. We followed a couple of Native women around who were harvesting critters right and left; and then suddenly I was the one with the spear. I nailed one. Al then indicated that I should drag it over to a big white guy who seemed to be in charge of collecting the deceased. I took him the carcass, he thanked me, and gave me the wristwatch he was wearing. I told him I that I hadn't worn a watch in over thirty years. The watch band was one of those metal twisty kind and was way too big. But I kinda rolled it up and put it on.

Then I woke up. Go figure.

My failure to sleep well was, in part, due to my roommates. Tucson, the basset hound, sleeps on the floor. Mattie the ShihTzu and Skelter the black pussycat were my bed partners. (Jasper the daschshund is confined to his kennel downstairs at night.) My bunkmates were not a problem; but old Tucson was restless. He has a doggy bed; but at least a half-dozen times during the night he got up and walked around the bed to make sure I was still there. Clickety-clack of basset hound toenails on the hardwood floor.

And when he returned to his doggy bed the classic basset hound ritual I have heard so many hundreds (maybe thousands) of times with various hounds over the years. First the shuffling as three turns are made on the bed. Then a sneeze. Then the umistakeable sound of a basset shaking his head - the big ears and jowls make a hollow thubba, thubba, thubba flapping noise accompanied by the tinkling of dog tags. Then he lies down. Then the big sigh.

It made me smile every time. I want a basset hound!

Well, the doggies should have digested breakfast by now; so I'll toss their asses outside for a minute and then head out to the folks for the chores. Looking out the window it appears to be a reasonably nice day. A trace of snow last night; but patches of blue sky this morning.