An Odd Dream

Last night, I had the strangest dream. (No, I'm not gunna sing "Chicaboom")
My brother was fishing from a boat, and I was a fish swimming down below. I could see him from under the water as he casted, and I could plainly see his lure skipping and popping along the water's surface. I watched as he caught one fish after another, held them up, and then released them. One time, he casted just beyond me and the bait was strangely irresistable to me. So as it passed, I grabbed it. (Now I know what a fish feels like!) I put up a good fight, but he eventually got me into the boat, held me up, then set me gently in the live well. I couldn't help thinking to myself, "Wow. I guess I really AM my brother's keeper!"

Hahaha! Okay, that wasn't really my dream, but it was good for a groan, wasn't it? My real dream didn't involve fish at all.
I went to bed at about 10:30, and dreamed that I was to be executed. For what I don't know, I must have already been convicted before the dream started. But I awoke at 11:30 after what seemed like all night of dreaming. I was really depressed as you might guess. I fell back to sleep and continued where I had left off. As only a dream would have it, I had been sentenced to death, but I was released on my own recognizance. I felt bound to report at the set time to have my sentence carried out, although a couple times I wondered what would happen if I didn't show. Throughout the whole dream I was dragging myself around, zombie-like, unspeakably depressed at the thought of my life ending. Sometimes I'll have a dream where I wake up thankful to God for the way I looked to Him for help even in my dream, but in this particular dream, God never crossed my mind. Maybe that's where all the depression came from. Anyway, I woke up again at 3:00 and went to the bathroom, thinking that might snap me out of it. But I went right back into it when I fell back to sleep. My mom was in my brother's backyard putting up tarps and umbrella-covered tables to get ready for my going away party. I was like, "Mom, this really isn't something I want to celebrate ok? I'm about to be executed!" But she just kept on setting up. I finally began to accept it, and was planning who I should leave my computer to, and who should get this or that. I finally woke at 6:00 and (thankfully) it was time to get ready for work. Yuck, but I was glad.

I heard somewhere that dreams only last a moment or two, but the way that I kept waking up all night still dreaming it makes that hard to believe. I like to analyze my dreams to try and figure out what they mean. This one, I'm sure, came from watching "The Green Mile" on TV the other night. If you haven't seen it, check it out. It's worth every minute unless you dream about it.

To My Sweeter Half

It was 10 years ago tomorrow (Sept 21) that Mrs derifter and I said "We Do!" So without further "ado", I'm gunna go ahead and sing (in print) Queen's "You're My Best Friend" to my sweeter half.
Baby, I sound just like Freddie Mercury if you use your imagination!

Ooo. you make me live
whatever this world can give to me
It's you, you're all I see
Ooo, you make me live now honey
Ooo, you make me live
You're the best friend
that I ever had
I've been with you such a long time
You're my sunshine
And I want you to know
That my feelings are true
I really love you
You're my best friend
Ooo, you make me live
I've been wandering round
But I still come back to you
In rain or shine
You've stood by me girl
I'm happy, happy at home
You're my best friend.
You're the first one
When things turn out bad
You know I'll never be lonely
You're my only one
And I love
The things that you do
You're my best friend
Ooo, you make me live.
I'm happy, happy at home
You're my best friend
You're my best friend
Ooo, you make me live
You, you're my best friend.

So Long, Sean

One of my co-workers rides a crotch-rocket and wherever he goes, he goes like a bat out of "heck". In fact, he was bragging about hitting 160 mph (257 kph) on the highway the other day. He usually tries to hit 100 mph (160 kph) before he gets to the stop sign at the end of the block. Thursday was no different, except that he left at lunch time to go home and do some chores. About 15 minutes later, we heard some sirens and noticed that they stopped shortly after zooming past our work. We didn't think too much of it until a delivery driver mentioned that some kid on a blue motorcycle was in an accident up the street. The boss said, "Sean rides a blue bike", and told someone to drive up there and make sure that it wasn't him. So another co-worker drove up the road, thinking he might have to give Sean a ride home, or at least back to work if his bike was wrecked. Turns out it was much, much worse.

A jogger (who was the first on the scene) said the motorcycle cruised by him at a very high speed through the s-curve, and when he came around the corner, Sean was literally wrapped around a light pole. His bike missed the pole and stopped a ways away, but his upper body hit it squarely. The jogger works for the fire department and said he tried to revive him, but there was nothing he could do. Even by the time my other co-worker (who the boss sent up there) arrived, Sean was already covered up.

So it's been pretty surreal since then, while we wait for it to sink in. One of those things that happened so fast that you go, "He can't be dead- I just talked to him a little while ago, and he was fine." You have people wondering what they could have done differently. The boss, who said it was okay for him to leave early, wondering "What if I had said no, then he'd still be here today". I think everyone does the what-if/ if-only thing, and there's really no point to it. In this case, so many people had warned Sean about over doing it- family, co-workers, friends - it's just a situation where it's something he wanted to do and he did it. And now he's dead because of it. A few people had said that we'd be going to his funeral someday, but we all hoped that wouldn't be the case.

Tags: crotch rocket, motorcycle, crash

New Lyrics From A New Man

I was watching some country videos today, and when they introduced Charlie Daniels's "Long-Haired Country Boy" , I was excited because I've always loved the song, but never seen the video. I noticed right away that some of the lyrics had changed since the guy has cleaned up his image some. I've never heard this version before today.

Where he used to say, "I get stoned in the mornin', I get drunk in the afternoon"
he now says, "I get up in the mornin', I get down in the afternoon."

And near the end the line, "I don't want much of nothin' at all, but I will take another toke"
has been replaced with "...but I will tell another joke"

It's cool when people feel God's conviction in their lives, and choose not to ignore it.

Tags: Charlie Daniels, Country