Dreaming

Every night the kids ask me to pray for them so they don't have scary dreams. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. For kids, a scary dream is pretty darn scary. It wakes them up and makes it hard to go back to sleep. For me, a scary dream is like a free horror movie. All dreams are pretty entertaining once you've finally woken up and realized you aren't trying to run away from an angry mob.

One recurring theme in my dreams is it's the last day of finals. I have a final in a class I just remembered I stopped attending weeks before. I search frantically for the classroom but can't find it. I have that dream about once a month.

Another theme is finding rattlesnakes. Lots of rattlesnakes. I'm walking across a field and there are hundreds of rattlesnakes. I go downstairs and the floor is covered with rattlesnakes. There are rattlesnakes slithering out of my car. I wonder what this dream is all about.

Once when I was dating Tabitha, I dreamt I was racing my 1972 Datsun 510 down a mountain road. I was going pretty fast until I missed a turn, crashed through the guard rail, and flew into the air. I remember a sudden feeling of weightlessness and then I woke up.

When I was in the Navy on my way to the Persian Gulf I dreamt about a father who was angry with his daughter and killed her. That was pretty crazy.

Just today while napping, I dreamed I was travelling to another city with the kids. We were floating down a river on a small raft. We were making pretty good time too. We stopped for the evening in a small rustic town. My parents were supposed to meet us. I leave the kids by the raft and try to find a phone. I crawl through a small hole into a store. The young girl behind the counter lets me use the phone where I am dismayed to learn my parents haven't even left yet. I have to crawl through the hole again to get back outside.

Sleep would be pretty boring if we didn't have dreams to keep us entertained. I wouldn't mind if I stopped dreaming about rattlesnakes though.

Big Sky Country

About 5 years ago my family decided to load up the covered wagon and forge a trail to the wilds of Montana. Being unwilling to take risks, I stayed in Southern California. Sure it kind of sucks to have them so far away but it does give me an excuse to pack up the car and go on a road trip a couple times a year.

But every time my wife gets to Montana, she starts looking at real estate. She finds an awesome house on several acres that would be "perfect" for our little family. The house she found this time is a newer 4 bedroom on five acres with a large shop with an apartment. For $225,000. And it would be really close to my parents.

Last week I drove with the family to Montana. I stayed a few days and then flew home so I could go back to work. As I write, they are on their way home. Last night when I talked to Aidan on the phone he told me he wants to move to Montana.



The boy needs room to roam. I get that. Abigail loves being able to see her cousins. I get that. Tabitha loves the slow pace of life. I get that.

I also have a job I can't leave so easily. I like it.


I've thought about moving the family to Big Sky Country while I continue working down here. I could fly home on my weekends and see the family. Flights aren't too expensive and I would rack up air miles pretty quickly. My in-laws have said I could stay with them. So it's all settled then, right?

The fly in the ointment is that it sucks to be away from my wife and kids. Sure, they can be annoying but I'd rather they were annoying in my presence. I don't think I could commute from Montana to California for the next ten years. It would get old after a while.

Enough excuses. Here's a few things I did on this trip:

• I helped my dad move logs in the yard by pulling them behind the Jeep.
• I walked through a cow pasture with Aidan and my nephew, Logan.
• I threw a rock into the canal and watched it sink to the bottom.
• I rode my bicycle up my parent's road.
• I drove in the Jeep with my dad and Aidan over gravel roads to the middle of nowhere. I used four wheel drive.
• I skipped rocks on Flathead Lake with my nieces and nephews.
• I had a root beer from A&W.
• I spent time with my sisters. And my parents.
• I contemplated buying a pair of cowboy boots.
• I drank cool fresh water straight out of the well.

20,000!

I just opened my blog for the first time in a little while and saw I've finally exceeded 20,000 hits.

Wow!

Sorry I haven't had a lot of content lately to make that last thousand hits worthwhile. I'll try to make it up to you.