the big green dragon…

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I remember waking up in the night and being terrified that a dragon of sorts was going to come through the downstairs door and get me. This dream was recurring…

dragon 245
My bedroom was on the downstairs floor of our home and I was the only person who slept down there ever since my brother moved out from the room next to mine. The first time I had this dream I woke up crying and paralyzed with fear in my belief that the green dragon was going to crash through the walls at any moment. I don’t know if I screamed. I don’t remember if my parents came to me that night. I was quite small, perhaps 6 or 7.

Eventually, these images became a daydream as well. I used to take the bus to school and would get dropped off at the bottom of the hill. I would then walk up the steep hill to our driveway, which for a young girl was a long hike upward. Shortly after the green dragon appeared in my dreams this hike became rather traumatic for me. I remember sitting at the bottom of the hill one afternoon and bawling my eyes out because I thought that if I walked up the long hill that the green dragon would eat me along the way. So I sat. I sat at the bottom of the hill crying and hoping that Mom or Dad might arrive to give me a ride up the hill. Instead a lady in a station wagon stopped and asked, “Are you Katie?”. Through my tears, I shook my head no. She simply said, “Oh. Ok.” and drove away, leaving me there to work it out on my own.

I finally gathered some courage and literally ran up the hill ~ and this was a long way, even for an adult. I remember it feeling like I was running past a never-ending, skinny, scaley, green, reptilian-like neck. I got hot and a little sweaty from the weight of my backpack pounding on my shoulders. Then, when I reached the place where I imagined the dragon’s head might be, I let out a continual, ear-piercing scream until I reached our mailbox and past the big, imagined nostrils.

I remember that this dragon had enough heads to fill every driveway in Orinda. I remember standing in front of the refrigerator and thinking that I saw news helicopters reporting about the situation and police helicopters fighting the battle unsuccessfully from above.

And the next thing I remember is that my bedroom was moved upstairs next to my parents’ room until I was 14.

This has stayed with me for all of these years and I have always, always wondered what that was all about. What was frightening me so much that I turned it into a big, green dragon nightmare. Or in my case a day/nightmare…

a visit from…

Filed Under family & friends | 2 Comments

My brother and sweet nephew came to visit me in my home, which was the best ever! I loved seeing them on my couch and at my table and on my patio…

couch outside

the perfect gift

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gift You know those people who are really good at finding the perfect gift? Perhaps you are even one of those people…

You know what I mean. The person who thinks of something really creative and unique that delights and suits the person wonderfully. These people don’t seem to need any help, either. No hints. No suggestions. No lists. Just the perfect gift.

I am not one of these people. I stress out. I worry. I draw a blank. And then when I do come up with a fabulous idea, it’s usually 2 minutes before I have to have the gift all ready to go…

Where does one learn the art of giving the perfect gift? Do tell.

what is love…

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My brother has been drawing…and I adore his new set of pictures entitled “What is love?”
Here’s where I am:
cartoon of love
“full of warm, overwhelming, passionate, mixed-up, compassionate, and terrifying love”
by S. Jones