The weirdest dream I've ever had

[LiberalEsto]

I welcome any insights you might have about it. It was extremely vivid and realistic. And troubling.

I dreamed that George W. Bush was dying and had regressed physically to infancy -- in other words, his body was that of a sickly infant. Everyone around him was clueless or refused to do anything to ease his final suffering.

I happened to be there and pitied him despite my loathing, since he was suffering miserably. I covered him lightly with a baby blanket, trying to make him comfortable, and offered tiny sips of water even though a doctor said I shouldn't give him any. I couldn't bear to see any living thing suffer. I tried to use my hands to send healing energy, even though it wouldn't stop the process of dying, just to provide comfort. He was bluish and very floppy and tried to move, but it was taking seemingly forever for him to die. The other people seemed to think I was crazy to bother.

The entire situation was being kept secret - a total news blackout. I was there for at least an afternoon and night, while the republican staff were ignoring him and trying to decide on strategy. I think someone - a hired caregiver - finally took over to relieve me, although I knew the person wasn't going to do very much. I was exhausted and needed a break, so I left the building to walk around.

I realized that this was a huge news story, especially the cover-up and the wretched treatment of the infant. (As an aside, I was a newspaper reporter for more than 25 years, and am currently unemployed and searching for work with no success. Newspapers are laying off people and going out of business. Five of the six papers I used to work for are no longer published. And there are an awful lot of newly unemployed journalists competing for what little freelance is still available.) So I decided to try calling the NY Daily News to sell my exclusive story, with the hope that they would give me a job.

At this point the dream became muddled. I didn't know what happened after I left -- whether Bush had died or was still alive. I knew it was important to include this in the story, so I tried to go back and find out. I kept running into obstacles and distractions. I felt extremely frustrated, disappointed and concerned with whether anyone was bothering to "ease the passage" for Bush because in good conscience I couldn't allow anyone, even such a bastard, to die in pain.

Then the dream charged topics entirely and I was trying to drive to an unfamiliar area to sort books for a book sale.

[elleng]

1. Sounds like a 'stress' dream, Lib.

Breathe deeply!

[LiberalEsto]

2. Now that you mention it...

That's an excellent insight, elleng. Thanks!

Our 22-year-old daughter broke up with her boyfriend and moved home yesterday evening with her dog. She was living about 5 hours away in Virginia and going to a community college there while he attends Virginia Tech. All her classes are on-line, so she can finish the semester. They weren't getting along well for several months, but her move home was unannounced and caught us by surprise. This is going to be rough, since she's got a number of problems.

So there is definitely a sudden, huge amount of stress in my life, but I couldn't make a connection between that and a dying George Bush.

[elleng]

3. I got to 'stress' well before your daughter + entered the picture!

Newspapers, journalists, and looking for work was enough! SO, do whatever you can, whenever you can, to relax!

[crikkett]

4. What I like, is how your most basic nature is merciful and compassionate.

:hug:

Good luck to you.

[LiberalEsto]

6. Thank you, crikkett

:hi:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. One truth I got out of it

was that, despite of his actions, we must pity Bush and try and care for him and his ilk as they "die" to the new reality. Bush's whole concept of what life is about is "infantile" and we have moved beyond it.

I also felt from what you wrote that your old ways of employment are going, and that you are taking a new road to a new place where your writing skills and organization will be appreciated.

[LiberalEsto]

9. I like your analysis

One thing that stood out to me was the refusal by those around him to lift a finger for him. This is the typical republican "I don't care about anyone except myself" attitude.

I hope you are right about new kinds of employment, ayeshahaqqiqa. It's been 12 years since I last worked for a newspaper. Since 2000 I've worked part time as a marketing writer for a small PR firm, but there's been no work for me since last October, and very little last year. Last year I landed two freelance jobs, but nothing this year. I feel as obsolete as the old Smith-Corona manual typewriters that reporters used back in the 1970s.

[Esra Star]

7. Yeah, it's just standard stress.

You need to do more gardening. Do you grow your own vegetables?
The Bush thing is just because you see him as pathetic.
His life could be over in a practical sense. He is not Al Gore.

[LiberalEsto]

8. I do a lot of gardening

and yes, I grow all kinds of stuff: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, beans, basil, lettuce, spinach, sugar snap peas, squash, melons and radishes, along with a number of cooking herbs, medicinal plants and blueberries. This year I'll be adding potatoes and blackberries. All organic. I also have about 20 rosebushes and lots of perennials and shrubs.

Alas, it is early March, and looking out the window I see at least 6 inches of snow and a lot more coming down here in Rockville, Maryland. St. Paddy's Day is when the peas get planted. So I have two more weeks before the fun begins.

I wish I could dream of Bush awaiting trial at The Hague for human rights crimes.

[Esra Star]

10. I prefer your compassionate dream..

I am really impressed with your garden. What do you do with any excess you have?
Have you got a small trading group in your local neighbourhood?

[LiberalEsto]

11. My garden is not very large

I use a technique called Square Foot Gardening. http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

My vegetable garden consists of four 8 by 4 foot beds arranged in a rectangle, with paths in between. Each bed is surrounded by cinderblocks. I grow garlic in the cinderblock holes, which are filled with soil. I don't bother with the grids recommended by the website; they are not necessary.

The entire thing is surrounded by bird netting attached to metal posts, to keep out deer. If I didn't do that, the deer would devour everything. The bottom of the netting also has chicken wire to keep out the rabbits.

I dug down 18 inches in each bed and filled it with the Square-Foot mix of 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 coarse vermiculite and 1/3 compost, though I also add a bit of composted manure and lime. I add more every year. The soil is very fluffy and you're not supposed to walk on it. I also built 10-foot-high trellises out of 1-inch metal electrical conduit. I hang cotton clothesline sections from the trellises to train the tomatoes, cucumbers and pole beans up above the ground.

Usually I plant 4 to 6 tomato plants, 5 or 6 cucumbers, 8 pole beans, 4 eggplants, 4 pepper plants, a couple of squash plants, and about 10 bush beans. In early spring I grow cool-season snap peas, spinach and lettuce, but those are finished by the time the other vegetables go in. These provide enough for my family and a little extra for the neighbors. The summer vegetables are interplanted with marigolds, nasturtiums and white icicle radishes to discourage insects.

Last year I set up a rain barrel with a soaker hose running through the 4 beds. To water, all I had to do was flip a small handle on the hose.

My biggest problems are insects and fungal diseases, the latter because of the hot, humid summers in the Washington, DC area. I use Pyola spray (a mix of pyrethrum and canola oil) for flea beetles and cucumber beetles, and bT for squash borers, and am going to try a new organic fungicide treatment this year. Last year I covered the beds with clear heavy plastic to "solarize" them before the planting season. This warms the soil and is supposed to kill some diseases and bugs. It may have helped somewhat.

The blueberry bushes are still young, and last year we picked about 3 quarts. They are in a separate area of the yard.

I hope this information is helpful. We don't have any local trading groups. Most people here commute and work long hours for the federal government or federal contractors, and don't have the time or energy for gardening. And most of my neighbors are elderly retirees with no energy for gardening. I give them my surplus when there's any available.

[Esra Star]

12. That's impressive.

I think you have a setup that should be mimiced(?) by any number of suburban people.
Being able to feed yourself directly from your yard is something that will become more required
in the near future.
Thank you for your detailed information.
Cheers

[katty]

13. sounds like bush is the symbol for america in denial