Dearest Rachel –
Well, this is one of those dreams that I wake up from wondering where it came from. I’m almost tempted to just say ‘forget about it,’ but it was so… realistic that I couldn’t seem to ignore it.
One of the particularly odd things about it is that I haven’t even seen but the one episode of Komi-san Can’t Communicate, but that’s essentially who we were dealing with.
And I do mean ‘we’; essentially the entire gang that was hanging out last night (Ellen, Daniel, Kerstin, Erin and I) was involved in this car pool process. This girl was in the area to study at a local college near Fermilab. Why we were even involved with this, I have no idea. It’s just dream logic; bear with me.
Somehow, it was our responsibility to get her there (which, obviously, was quite the drive, as we are not really that close to Batavia – although I will say it was a scenic trip, surrounded by trees on both sides of the four-lane highway in all manner of autumnal colors; oranges, yellows, the occasional red here and there… wait, autumnal?), and to make sure she could get to her classes and extracurriculars safely, as (on top of everything else) she was quite clumsy. I’m not kidding. The first thing on her schedule was a club activity having to do with collecting maple sap, and in trying to drop her off on time for that, including wandering through the local woods to join up with where the rest of the club should be, she and I got our feet tangled up with each other, and down we went. The only saving grace is that I need it on my other cheek (the one where my wallet is), so my phone survived. Meanwhile, she landed on top of me, still quite distraught about being late to the activity.
And, in a way, she had a right to be; her schedule was pretty full, and she was doing really well in everything else (from what I remember of seeing her… report card? Why would I be seeing that? Oh yeah… dream). But she needed some extracurriculars in order to complete her degree, and this is what she’d chosen. And it wasn’t working out very well.
Somewhere along the line, I did point out that this wasn’t a sort of activity that really could be done around here – it just doesn’t get that cold around here (at least, not consistently). I don’t recall if we managed to find the club leader, or the faculty member who was sponsoring it, but I think we manage to work things out. At least I hope we did; it was at that point my alarm went off, and the dream was more or less over.
Like I said, this makes absolutely no sense. I have very little connection to the character, and the idea of a school (let alone a college), especially around here, being into collecting maple syrup is just ridiculous. In Vermont, possibly; in Canada, definitely. But not here.
Again, it’s a really silly little thing that danced through my head just before waking up this morning, but I thought I’d relate it to you. It’s the sort of thing you would have told me about if it happened to you, and as I’m having a lot more of these now that you’ve left – maybe I’ve inherited the talent from you? – I suppose it’s only fair that I return the favor.
I just wish I knew what – if anything – it was supposed to mean. All it’s done for me thus far is to make my hungry for maple sugar candy. But by the time I find any, and order it, I expect that the moment will have passed, and I won’t really care about it. I’ve let the stuff crystallize on me so many times in the past. But that’s another story, to be told another time.
Anyway, I’ll try to get in touch with you later today; I’m not on assignment, but it’s times like this when I don’t have the motivation I ought to.
Take care, honey, and wish me luck. I’m gonna need it.
Letters to Rachel 