Stopping the Spread of the Poison

Another intense dream last night.  I dreamt that I fell asleep, and when I woke up I was covered in reptiles.  There were chameleons in my sleeves, and lots of tiny lizards and snakes everywhere.  I laughed, because I knew they wouldn't hurt me, and they were cute.  So I gently set them all on the ground, so I could carefully stand up without hurting any of them.  However, I didn't notice that there was a viper under my left foot, and I stepped on him, crushing him.  His fangs dug deep into my foot, and I could feel the burning of the poison.  I couldn't get him out of my foot, so I stumbled outside and called an ambulance.  I sat down in the grass and waited, afraid they wouldn't come on time, all the while feeling the fiery poison climbing my legs.  Just when I thought I would die, the ambulance arrived.  A woman took my foot in her hands and very gently removed the dead viper.  I woke up, my foot still burning from the poison.

Phew.  Please, have some symbolism.  I'm not entirely sure what the dream means, but I imagine there must be something that is bothering me, something I didn't see coming.  If I'm not careful, it'll kill me, but I feel helpless to handle the situation myself.  I need help.  And, fortunately, I'm getting it!  :-)  Again, I woke up feeling good, so this must be a cleansing dream.

Today Susanne, Melanie, and I went to the library to look around.  Susanne checked out a bunch of children's books, and a few Dutch movies.  We're going to have a movie night on Thursday!  :-)  There's one I'm particularly interested in seeing.  I don't remember the name, but the premise is basically about changing the way we see the world.  Not our world view, our literal, visual way of seeing the world.  Leuk!  I'll post more about it when I've seen it!

After a quick shopping session (tomato-pesto goat cheese fondue for dinner tonight!) I laid a blanket in the sun and finished up The Audacity of Hope.  And that, if nothing else, is what I took from this book:  hope.

"And perhaps the world's fate depends not just on the events of its battlefields; perhaps it depends just as much on the work we do in those quiet places that require a helping hand." (Obama, 2006, 322) 

It doesn't matter if I can't understand the complexities of world economics well enough to save the world's poor; it doesn't matter if I can't memorize every precedent to every law.  The "quiet places" may just be the ones for me!  :-D

After finishing the book I just laid in the sun and stared up at the dancing leaves of a tree.  I tried to let the sound of the wind wash over me like water.  I've been in a state of panic since moving to the Netherlands.  Panic over where to live, and how to become legal; panic over relationships, the old and the new (and especially the old made new) panic over the past and the ever uncertain future.  Today I tried to just sink into it all.  I stared at the leaves and tried to live in the present.  I managed a few moments of silence, and an unclenching of fists.  Stopping the spread of the poison.  The leaves all seemed to wave at me.

Lolpod:  A boy on the street cut a slot out of his hat for his mohawk!