I had a dream which I would have to describe as a “nostalgia dream.” It was quite realistic, but seemed to incorporate elements of the past, present, and future.
It was nominally set in the future, when I lived in Flint with my family, but a couple times a month I commuted to Chicago (this is probably a realistic assessment of my future). In the dream, my mom was giving me a ride to Kalamazoo, and then I was to catch a train the rest of the way to Chicago. I remember the hills and dunes in Western Michigan being a lot larger than they were in real life. They looked like the banks of the Ohio river in Cincinnati, except sandy with huge trees.
As soon as I got on the train, I fell right asleep, and woke up to find that night had fallen and I had gotten on the wrong train. I had just arrived, in fact, in New York City; Queens to be precise. And while my real-life experience living in New York for two years was a mixture of frustration and admiration, at best, in the dream I was thrilled to be there.
The customer service people were very apologetic, but assured me that they would put me up and they could have me on a train to Chicago the next morning (remarkable, as the error was my fault), but I assured them I had friends I could stay with. They didn’t seem quite convinced that I had lived there before. “Where did you live,” asked a clean shaven man with a peppy tie and glasses as we rode the elevator up… evidently this train docked far below ground, lower than the subway. “Brooklyn! Do you know Cobble Hill near Brooklyn Heights? Or better, Fort Greene? The Navy Yard?” He didn’t. I hit him in the arm: “And you say you’re from New York!”
I had found a man’s blackberry on the train when I left, and while I was trying to find a way to return it to him, I figured I might as well use it for an internet connection. It had Windows 7, which is new to me, so I was having some trouble figuring it out. A man in a suit with a MacBook sat down on a bench next to me, and conspicuously opened it and chatted while someone was filming nearby. It was obviously a Mac ad. The guy said, “I bet I can guess what you’re wondering right now?” A clear cue to ask him why his computer was working so much better than “mine.” I said: “Yeah, who is this asshole and why is he talking to me?” He got up and left without a word.
I exited the train station, a little bit concerned about the logistics of getting in touch with my family and boss, but excited to see friends I hadn’t seen in several years. When I emerged it was a light rain, and I was on a boardwalk, high overlooking the East River across from the 40s and 50s. This was somewhere I’ve never been, but clearly inspired by the industrial zones where Greenpoint and Long Island City bump up against each other. It was a light rain, and dark out, and lots of couples and trendy people were sitting at little bars, sipping expensive drinks and enjoying the view. Some of them were carrying clear umbrellas with white LED lights announcing the temperature and time. It was kind of magical.
Anyway: I still haven’t decided what the solution is for this blog, but I’ll keep posting, and when I have something figured out, there’ll be a greater semblance of order around here.