Dreamland

Rain Dance and Ferris Wheel

I take a walk outside. The night is very warm, and there is a huge swirling cloud overhead. I’m talking to a small group of people who are looking up at the sky, saying we should probably watch for funnel clouds, this looks like a storm that could spawn tornadoes. They don’t seem concerned.

The clouds stop swirling, and a heavy warm rain begins to fall. The people in the group begin to dance and sing a chant. I strip off my shirt and shoes and join in, chanting and stomping my feet on the wet sandy ground, really enjoying it. There is a woman about my age, wearing shorts and a halter-top, dancing near me. I shout to her in order to be heard above the chant and the rain: “This is really great! I can’t do this where I live! In California it only rains in the winter, and then it’s cold. The last time I was able to dance in the warm rain was when I was in New Mexico a couple years ago!”

There is a huge Ferris Wheel strung with sparkling lights, it must be over fifty feet tall. I buy a ticket from the carny and climb up into a seat. The wheel is moving up slowly, stopping to load passengers. I turn around and start talking with a couple of younger women who are in the seat behind mine. We somehow start taking about the “six degrees of separation”, and one of them says “I know someone in Chicopee Massachusetts who knows you.”

She tells me this guy’s name, then says “He’s my cousin, he’s on the police force there.”

I don’t recognize the guy’s name, but figure he must be the cop who arrested me there years ago, so I tell her that. She says, “Oh, I’m sorry, I was just kidding. I didn’t know you had ever even been to Massachusetts. I just wanted to see if this six degrees stuff worked. Sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

I laugh, tell her it doesn’t matter, it’s in my past, it doesn't bother me. We continue on, talking and joking, while the wheel continues rising up to the top. Then we're looking out at the magnificent view of city lights in the clear desert night.