Yay for good dreams!

I have recurring dreams, both good and bad. In the good category falls a repeating dream that I had again last night: I’m visiting Hiram as an alumni and just walking around campus, which sounds unimpressive, I know. This time it was spring, and so the air was warm and I wandered around without shoes on. I had this wonderful sense of having no limit to the time I could walk around—nothing pressing elsewheres.

It’s important to note that Hiram in my dreams is much larger than the one block it is in reality. If I walk along the sidewalk from Henry towards Miller, there isn’t just forest and road beyond: there is a lakeshore and an outdoor amphitheatre. The buildings are all bigger and more ivy-leaguish. Somehow, though, Kennedy Center remains relatively the same, and always in my dreams I stop by casually for food or coffee. And overall, most of dream-Hiram is the half that Henry is on. I usually only go as far as Kennedy or the commons bounded by the science building.

Anyway, this dream was especially nice because I’d discovered that Hiram was only 2 hours away again, and I could visit any time. Plus the weather was so lovely, and I didn’t have the sense I was going to wake up in my dream too soon and have to leave. I ran into Sam and he invited me to a party being thrown in his honor to celebrate something. But he wouldn’t tell me what it was. The party was being thrown by his 3 Aunts who had laid out a spread of lunchmeats and sandwiches—too fancy for folks our age. I brought my friends from Madison and everyone thought they were funny and wonderful. Everything, even awkward topics, was laughed off.

Then I came to the classic closing of the dream: I’m walking around Hiram while the students are changing classes, and I keep looking for faces I know. And then I almost say out loud “Everyone I knew here is gone. They aren’t here anymore.” That’s the sad part, but I’ve gotten so used to it, it’s not so bad anymore.

I still wonder why this is a recurring dream. I know, in real waking life I miss the life that college had to offer, and how certain I was about everything at that time. But it’s always about walking around campus, or wishing I could find people I’m looking for. Strange!