You know those music end caps at Target and Wal-Mart that randomly play serene, often eccentric music like Celtic lullabies and 50s diner tunes? Well, a while back I went to Target, probably on my lunch break and probably perusing the aisles imagining a life where I was shopping for my new home, debating shower curtains and throw pillows. There’s this end cap with the music playing and every time I pass it, I get drawn to the juke-box-like music player that allows me to sample the music at hand. One day I decided, without even sampling the CD, to buy Relaxing Afternoon Jazz. I uploaded it onto my iTunes, but forgot about the CD until I was arranging books on my bookshelf yesterday and saw it leaning up against a naked, hardback copy of Anne Brashare’s The Last Summer (of You and Me). I took it down and decided to take it with me when I left for work. Needless to say, I had a lovely, calming drive to my meeting yesterday morning. If you’re ever looking for some music to calm your nerves, this CD will do the trick. I URGE you to buy it. Yes, URGE.
I actually think that soft jazz sound is what put my subconscious into a ready-when-you-are! sleep mode. When I settled onto my couch after work and began the tedious process of studying for my history final, my brain took that to mean I was trying to wind down for a nap. So I ended up falling asleep – twice!
During that first nap, I had this horrendous (okay, I exaggerate) dream about a freaking HUGE twister. I mean this sucker was a monster. I think it was because we had a tornado watch that turned into a warning on Saturday. It started off with me pulling innocently into a parking lot and just sitting in my car as though I was waiting for something. All of a sudden, my car starts wiggling and swaying and I’m grasping for something solid to hold on to. Then I look up and see this wide curtain of gray off in he distance with dark clouds feeding into it overhead. I jump out of my car just before it takes off with the wind and run to an open field. There are hordes of people running up this large hill into a mane of woods as though that’s the safest place they could be during a tornado. I see a blond woman I know holding a baby who’s crying and frantic because her husband hasn’t come back yet (don’t ask me from where, I have no idea, however it all made sense in the dream somehow). “Do you want me to take [baby's name, I can't remember what I'd called her]?” She handed the baby to me and we started towards the hill, but just as I reached the incline before the woods I felt pellets of pressure on my arm under the baby’s butt. I ran back to her mother who was still standing aimlessly around a wave flailing bodies. “She needs a diaper!” I yelled. “Do you have a diaper?”
And that’s all I remember. I know, strange.