Something special occurred this past week. You were there…sort of…well, I am getting ahead of myself.
I dreamt I was strolling down a sunlit street with large, overhanging branched trees providing dappled sunlight and shade. A light breeze tasseled my hair, and the scent of freshly mown grass mingled with fragrances from jasmine, roses and fruit trees. As I walked by neatly trimmed lawns fronting cottages of wood, stone and brick, I could hear children laughing, people talking with their neighbors and dogs barking. When I turned to see where the noises came from, strangely, there was no one there.
Block after block I walked; finally, I turned down a cul-de-sac and approached a home. It was a beautifully built craftsman with a slate tile roof, brown shingled sides, and deep, wide porch with a gravel walkway leading to broadgrey lintel stone steps. The xeriscape garden combined bursts of red, lilac and golden orange flowers with blue-grey succulents draping over tumbled stones and small boulders.
I climbed the steps onto the broad planked wooden porch. At one end a two-seat swing rocked gently back and forth with the wind. At the other end were two large wicker chairs with deep foam filled cushions that, once sat upon, would certainly swallow whomever sat down. I noticed the front door was much larger than normal – nearly eight feet tall. In the door’s center was a stain glass window depicting, what? It was difficult to discern the display: was it multi-colored flowers reaching toward the sun, or a woman, mermaid, or nymph reaching for the stars or moon? I could not tell. The glass was cool to the touch as I peered through the door.
Suddenly, the door swung open; I stepped back, not sure of what I had done or what would happen next. However, there was no one there.
I stepped into the entryway. Before me was a hallway leading to several rooms and wooden stairway leading to the next floor. I explored each room on the first and second floors. As I moved from room to room I could hear a child laughing, a woman humming, a father reading to a child. And, just as before, when I turned to look there was no one there.
Were they ghosts from a pleasant past, or a harbinger of future happy times? An unsolved mystery. Finally, I came to another stairway leading to the top floor. As I ascended, I realized this was the master suite with windows on all four sides, deep closets and a large master bath with a modern claw-footed tub beneath a rainforest shower. Everything was serene and quiet, with a light breeze circulating through open windows.
I realized I was tired from my journey.
Sitting down in the middle of the room, I began to breathe, taking deeper breaths, embracing the sunlight and the light breeze. The background noise lowered to a low buzz, a deep reverberating sound that seemed to penetrate everywhere. I felt completely calm and relaxed.
Then, quietly, and slowly rising in volume, I heard a voice saying, “Look at me, look at me”. I did not recognize the voice. Slowly, I turned my head to the right, and there was this large, chocolate brown cat sitting in the doorway. Its tail switched back and forth…one, two…one, two…swish…swish. The sound reminded me of wind-blown grains of sand sliding down a dune, or the sound I hear, when sailing at night, as the waves surf under the stern of the sailboat.
The cat rose and began to circle towards me. It stopped directly in front of me wrapping its tail around its frontpaws. The cat’s head rocked left then right, examining me. Slowly, it stood, stretched and crawled into my lap, curling up and began purring. As I began to caress the cat, it turned, looking directly into my face, and said, “Welcome home, Jon Michael. Our journey has begun.”
I felt this wave of contentment; joy and completeness rush through my body. It was your voice!
