more of T's nonsense

Let's see, I've never done this before, and I don't think it's going to work, but something about last night's vivid dream.

It wasn't clear at first, but we obviously were in Newport, Rhode Island. In my memories it was always black and cold, but in the dream, Narragansett Bay was as clear and turquoise blue as a tropical sea. I wanted to get across to the other side. 

There was some water traffic moving, including large ships and warships, but it looked manageable, and I had a float to lie down on, and a rechargeable snow or leaf blower to strap to my back and use to propel me. Oddly, though nothing is odd for a dream, wearing a dark blue suit, white shirt and red tie, I lay down on the float, turned on the snow blower, and started moving out into the bay. The water was cold, but not freezing, and dead still, no waves. 

Part way across, and dodging ships, I noticed that the snow blower was slowing down, and I realized that I'd not recharged it, had set out with it less than half-charged, and it was going to shut down and I'd have to paddle with my arms and hands; so I turned back and made my way to shore, but in a difficult place littered with long logs, cut square like huge railway ties, that I had to climb over very carefully so as not to lose my balance and fall. 

I made my way to a muddy road running past a row of houses, rough shacks, some with people in swings or rocking chairs on the front porch. No one would acknowledge my wave.

Finally I stopped at one of the houses, made my way up into the muddy front yard, and called, "Is anyone there?" "Is anybody home?" From inside, someone answered. I asked if it was okay for me to be on the property and Whoever answered Yes, and I went inside the house, a hovel from the Brothers Grimm, with a man, a woman his wife, and an older woman, probably the mother of one of the adults, and grandmother to the five or six little kids running noisily about. 

The family was about to load into their car to drive into town, and I told them I needed to get to wherever Linda was waiting for me, and likely worried, that she probably was over near the Naval War College, could they drop me there? They were positive, so great relief on my part. 

My suit was still a bit wet from my adventure into the bay, but I reached into my right rear pants pocket for my cell phone and tried to call Linda. Nothing would come up on the phone screen except jumbled nonsense, but I kept trying without success as I followed the people out to their car.

The three adults got into the front bench seat and all the children piled into the rear seat. I opened the right rear door and asked if I could squeeze in, they made a little room for me, and I got inside, sat down, and tried to close the door. It wouldn't close, there wasn't room for all of us in the back seat, but I kept slamming the door, which wouldn't quite shut, kept opening. I rolled the window down and tried to push the door shut with arm and hand outside, and finally got it to click and stay shut, but not secure. 

The car was green, a DeSoto sedan, and I realized it was a year model 1955 because the gear shift lever was sticking out from the car's dashboard, as all Chrysler Corporation cars were for that one year only. By this Time, the car was red instead of green, as I told the man, who was driving, that it'd been a long Time since I'd ridden in a DeSoto, and maybe my first time in a 1955 DeSoto. He didn't comment, I guessed because the car was a bit shabby, and this was maybe 2024, and he may have felt self-conscious about driving a shabby old car. 

About this Time, Father Nature wakened me from sleep and I got up. Returning to bed four minutes later, I noticed that the dream kept recurring, but differently, and the DeSoto was gone along with that family of three adults and numerous children.

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What in "real life" (nothing is real) could I relate this dream to? The only thing that comes to mind is my fraternity field trip my freshman year at UFlorida, Spring 1954. We pledges met at the KA house on a Saturday morning, were told not to have more than $5 each on us, were divided into groups of three boys, and given a note that was our field trip assignment. 

Over the past fourteen years, I've told this story here before, maybe more than once. My group's note told us to go to the  Barnum & Bailey winter circus in Sarasota, procure and return by Sunday afternoon with a pound of pachyderm excretion.

It took us all day Saturday to hitchhike down to Tampa. During the day standing on the roadside with our thumbs out, there was Time for discussion of various topics. 

The one discussion that I remember was about the expected coming change to racially integrate public schools throughout the South, including the University of Florida. The other two boys were aghast at the idea, I was for it - - not a "good fit" for my coming initiation into the KA Order from pledge to brother. Our fraternity had a huge Confederate Battle Flag hanging over the front entryway on University Avenue, and a large portrait of General Robert E Lee over the fireplace mantle in the front room. 

During the discussion, I asked one of the other boys if he disliked Negroes. He retorted that "They are okay as long as they stay in their place." I said "They don't have 'a place'." He said that there was no point in continuing the discussion, because we would never agree. 

In Tampa by early evening, with still a distance to go to Sarasota, the circus closed by that hour, and us with no place to sleep, we were hitchhiking still, and a old Plymouth sedan, my recollection it was a 1941, pulled up to stop for us. A shabby man and semi-toothless woman in the front seat and three or four little children in the back seat. We squeezed in, one of the boys into the front seat, window, by the woman, the other two of us into the back seat with the kids. You could see the roadway through the car's rusted out floorboard, and road fumes came into the car, but safe enough I guess, as all the windows were open. 

We took off down the highway, and I remember that one of the kids, a little girl maybe four or five years old, stared at me the whole Time. When  we got to the intersection of the road leading on south to Sarasota, the man stopped and let us out, as they were going on westward. 

At the intersection was a bar. We'd had no food all day, went into the bar and had a couple of beers each. Five dollars was plenty of cash in those days, a quart of Schlitz was 50¢ and while I had kept the $5 rule the other two guys had maybe twenty or thirty dollars each, so we were okay. 

By then it was dark and maybe seven o'clock Saturday evening. There in the bar we made our decision. We had a Florida roadmap, one of those folding ones that used to be free at any gas station. At that intersection where the bar was located, the highway south to Sarasota also headed north back toward Gainesville. We'd go on back to Gainesville and make up a story about the elephant excretion. Finishing our beers, we walked out, across the intersection, and stuck our thumbs out.

By eight o'clock of so, and I know I've told this story here before, a truck stopped for us. It was a large stake truck, its cargo covered with a huge canvas. One of the boys got in the truck cab with the driver, the other two of us climbed into the back and up on top of the cargo, which was cardboard box cases of groceries. Exhausted, I curled up under the canvas and immediately dozed off. 

Some Time in the wee dark hours I was awakened by thunder and the sound of heavy rain pelting down on the canvas just a few inches above me. The other boy warned me, Don't touch the canvas, because if you do you'll start a leak and the rain will drip on you. Minding his advice, I dozed back into maybe, even to this day seventy years later, the best and soundest sleep of my life!! 

About seven o'clock Sunday morning I awoke to the truck stopping at a fork in the highway. The driver was heading on north, this was where we got off to head west toward Gainesville. 

After about an hour with our thumbs out, a woman alone in her car stopped for us. She said we looked like nice college boys and she felt safe enough giving us a ride. We told her about our adventure, and concocted our tale to cover the fact that we were returning without the sack of sxxx from the circus. As I recall, the woman actually dropped us near our fraternity house an hour or two later Sunday morning.

As we checked back in with the fraternity brother who was managing us pledges, we told him that we'd gotten as far back as possible with the sack of elephant sxxx, but that the woman who gave us our final ride had said we could not bring it into the car because of the smell. I don't think that qualifies as "white lie," so you can make it whatever color lie you wish, but we got away with it and were initiated into the fraternity as full brothers a week or so later.

Spring 1954. That summer I got a job working seven days a week at Edgewater Gulf Beach Apartments and had a date with Linda every evening after work but one, another story for perhaps another Time.

Life is Good. Lots of memories help make it Better Best. Sometimes, as last night and this morning, it takes a weird dream to stir a special memory.

RSF&PTL

T88&c