Foreboding Dreams Are Made of These.

Two nights ago I dreamt two dreams that freaked my shit out.

In the first...

I was in New York at Yankee Stadium watching a night game. I'm supposed to be representing the San Francisco Giants in some official capacity, which explains why an usher comes over and asks me to come with her. Next thing I know, I'm in George Steinbrenner's suite overlooking the field. I'm sweating out this meeting, because I have no idea what it's for but I assume because I'm at Yankee Stadium representing the Giants that I'm there to talk to Steinbrenner about a trade. I notice his grandchildren playing off to the side, they don't really notice me, when Steinbrenner sits down and asks me what he can do for me. I stammer for a minute, bullshitting about the awesomeness of Yankee Stadium, before I get down to the matter of swapping out player personnel. I can tell right away that he's pissed at me for wasting his time. He tells me, "I have a GM who handles trades." Then, he excuses himself to take a phone call. I'm freaked out. I just blew this opportunity.

His 14 year old granddaughter walks over to me and tells me to relax, as I'm now standing and gripping the back of the chair I was just sitting in. I tell her I'm not nervous about the meeting, I'm terrified of heights. Yeah, I'm scared to be in that suite overlooking the field now. The granddaughter suggests I sit on the porch swing that's on a landing attached to the suite (dream geography, right?). I reluctantly comply, figuring the swinging motion might relax me. But I don't sit in the swing. I put both my hands on the cushion, but then the granddaughter starts to swing it before I sit, and the whole thing swing up, over and around -- 360 degrees with me doing a handplant on the seat. Once it's over, I say, "That was weird." And then I get this strange feeling that something bad is about to happen. Sure enough, there's an earthquake -- in New York.

Suddenly, I'm back down in the lower reserve seats, watching people rush past me. A piece of the concrete facade above us breaks off. The concrete crushes two people and breaks apart on impact. The broken piece flies off and smacks me in the back of the head. I go down. But then I have an out of body experience and watch myself get up and run. Now it's not a first person dream. I'm running out of Yankee Stadium -- SPRINTING -- along with the rest of the crowd.

Now it's back to first person, and it occurs to me that if there's an earthquake in New York, then there must be a mammoth one happening in California (dream logic, right?). So, I turn around and run back into the stadium, searching for a phone. On the way back I run into this girl I grew up with. We're shocked to see each other, but she says she has a phone, so we run back away from the stadium.

The path out of the stadium is a paved bridge that crosses over a green field. And it's also daytime for some reason. On the way, we run alongside one of my old co-workers from my CBS Page gig. Anyway, the girl from my childhood is on the phone, trying to get a hold of her parents who live down the street from my mom. We're trying to get in touch with anyone in California. I stop running because she stops running. Tears pour down her face as she listens on the phone. I ask her if everything's okay.

The dream ends.


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I checked one of those on-line dream dictionaries, but I consulted it after I had composed a list of all the significant images. I was amazed at how many of the exact words I used showed up on the list. Here are the terms and their dream definitions:

Stadium: To see or dream that you are in a stadium, represents your determination to succeed and achieve your goals. You need to be more active, aggressive, and bold.

Earthquake: To dream of an earthquake, suggests that you are experiencing a major "shake-up" that is threatening your stability and foundation. The dream highlights you insecurity, fears and sense of helplessness. If you find cover from the quake, you will overcome these challenges. If you become trapped or injured during the quake, you will suffer loss of your business and assets.

Swing: To dream that you are on a swing, represents an expression of great satisfaction and freedom. It also symbolizes cycles and movement. Alternatively, it signifies a desire for sexual variety. To see a swing set in your dream, indicates memories from childhood. You may feel a need to escape from your current responsibilities and relax. To dream that you are swinging, suggests that you are going back and forth in some situation and need to make up your mind.

Field: To see green fields in your dream, symbolizes great abundance, freedom, and happiness. You may also be going through a period of personal growth. Alternatively, this dream may simply be an expression for your love of nature. To see freshly plowed fields in your dream, signifies growth, early rise to wealth and fortunate advancements to places of honor.

Classmates: To see old classmates in your dream, indicates that you need to draw on your old associations with your former classmates to gain insight in some current relationship. It represents a past lesson that you have learned and is applicable in some aspect of your waking life now.

Nervous: To dream that you are nervous about something, indicates that you are experiencing self-doubt and feelings of insecurity.

Night: To have a dream that takes place at night, represents some major setbacks and obstacles in achieving your goals. There are some issues in your life that you are facing that are not too clear. You should put the issues aside so you can clear your head before coming back to it.

Danger: To dream that you are in danger and are wounded or killed, signifies substantial losses in business and discouraging prospects in love. You need to be more cautious in some aspect of your life. To dream that you escape from danger, signifies that you will rise to a place of high position and honor in your business and social circle.

Running: To dream that you are running alone, signifies that you will advance to a higher position and surpass your friends in the race for wealth. Alternatively, you may be running from some situation or from temptation. To dream that you are running with others, signifies festive and prosperous times.

Baseball: To dream that you are attending a baseball game, represents contentment and peace of mind.

Grandchild: To see your grandchild in your dream, represents the renewal of life and reflection of your own past. If refers to your family line, generations and tradition, as well as innocence and purity. Alternatively, you may be expressing a desire to escape from your daily responsibilities and problems. [Technically, I saw Steinbrenner's grandkids]

Height: To dream that you are afraid of heights, denotes that you are striving for goals that seem beyond your reach.

News: To hear good news in your dream, signifies that you will be fortunate in your endeavors and will have many harmonious companions. The contrary is true if you dream of hearing bad news. [In fact, the dream ended before I got the news I wanted.]

Cry: To dream that you are crying, signifies a release of negative emotions that is more likely caused by some waking situation rather than the events of the dream itself. Your dream is a way to regain some emotional balance and a way to safely let out your fears and frustrations. In our daily lives, we tend to ignore, deny, or repress our feelings. But in our dream state, our defense mechanisms are no longer on guard and thus allow for the release of such emotions. To see someone else crying in your dream, may be a projection of your own feelings onto someone else. If you do not cry in your waking life, then seeing someone else cry may be a little easier to deal with then seeing yourself cry.

Tears:
To dream that others are in tears, signifies that your sorrow will concern your friends. To see a teardrop in your dream, represents previous wisdom you have learned and remembered.

Concrete:
To see concrete in your dream, represents your solid and clear understanding of some situation. The dream may also mean that you are unyielding and inflexible.

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I'll post the second dream tomorrow.