558.

I'm not sure if I dream more than most folk but I dream a lot. Usually several dreams per sleep session and probably every night. I say "probably" because I can't recall a time when I've slept without dreaming.

There are times when I awake and can't recall what I dreamed about but I know I did dream. If I can't recall at least the last dream I had before waking, my day feels like it's starting off wrong.

I feel like I've missed a vital communiqué from God and that just won't do.

So I began researching methods for better dream recall. One of the suggestions was to take extra time to lie in bed after waking, to recall as much dream as possible.

It helps.

Another suggestion is to journal the dream (which I've been doing for decades) in the present tense (new to me), as if the action is taking place as I write.

That helps as well but it only works if you can recall the dream(s) in the first place.

Which brings me to today's last dream before waking, whose sparse details only came back to me when I saw a news article on the web this morning. (Not an uncommon occurrence, as "dream reminders" tend to pop up randomly during my day. If I'm paying attention, I notice.)

What I remember of this morning's dream:

My daughter and I were out at night, walking. She pointed out an alligator (or was it a croc?) coming toward us from our right. She walked too close to it and I panicked, warning her loudly not to do so.

In the next few moments, she disappeared around a corner and I ran to search for her. I didn't her but a guy came to tell me she'd been bitten on the ankle by a gator (or a croc).

Bitten on the ankle but still in one piece... I wondered aloud why she hadn't kicked its teeth in.

***

Although we see critters in our current neighborhood that just didn't live amongst civilized folk where I grew up, I've never seen anything resembling a gator or a croc.

Thank you God for keeping those critters away from here because if one makes it this far inland, it's time to move.

On another note, my daughter and I were out shopping yesterday. As usual, I was scanning radio stations in search of something she and I could stand to listen to. As we pulled into a parking space, I tuned into one of my favorite songs, about half over but it didn't matter.

No way could we leave the car until I heard the whole thing. Although we are a musical family (we sing, play, eat, sleep, live music) and this was one of my favorite songs, it hadn't gotten a lot of airplay around here in the past three years because it was a sad reminder of things past.

Yesterday I was able to listen and sing with nostalgia but not a tear fell. It might not always be that way but it's a measure of progress for me, big crybaby that I am.

My daughter sang along with me and surprised me at the end by telling me the group that performed the song.

Without further ado, you too can listen and sing along here, if Spirit moves you:

It's such a beautifully simple song, lyrics and instrumentation meshing perfectly to transport me into a realm beyond my physical body.

Thank you God for the reminder and the realization.

Amen.