(This dream took place during a highly unusual daytime nap. I woke up and went back to sleep several times which may account for some of the disjointed scenes.)
Marie has a brand new condo in Tampa and Michelle and Anne have come down to visit for the first time. We get down there and realize that it's more than just a condo, it's an entire house in a gated community. The houses are all close together with yards about 20 feet square. Some houses have pools. It's hot and we wish Marie had a pool, but Otis just wanted the back yard to lay out and didn't want to waste space. It's the beginning of the season and the yard is overgrown, they have some work to do!
He's glad to have this permanent beach residence, but this trip isn't going to plan. He wound up getting a terrible sunburn on his back before leaving the home state. His doctor is making him wear a big baggy t-shirt and only letting him lay out after 8pm. Also, he usually gets really chubby before leaving for the beach so he can sweat all the weight off sunbathing. He's chubby all right, and we feel bad for him because we don't know how he'll lose the weight with the sun being off limits.
Marie goes back upstairs and leaves us alone checking out the basement. She has a big record player in the depression of the fireplace. We think it's glowing, but we realize it's just reflecting some neon lights from the room. I open the door to the cabinet and see that Marie has about a dozen copies of my album, some Goosebumps DVDs, and the album currently playing - Sting's Brand New Day.
There is this sub-scene that takes place in the basement. There is a livestock auction. Everything is going really cheap, but I know I won't be able to bring anything home because it's illegal to transport livestock across country lines. (Yes, I realize Tampa is not in a different country.) The auctioneer asks that all children in the basement be picked up and held if they are running loose and he allows a wagon to enter the sale basement pulled by two ponies. Not only is it a wagon, but it's an organ wagon - and works! A girl bids $1 on it, but before it sells the wagon tips over. She's so disappointed, but luckily I can get most of the keys on the organ working again. Some keys still sound a little wheezy, but they're higher up keys that I think she can do without.
Returning to the ordinary incarnation of this residence, I spend a lot of time in the house just thinking. I had a hard time imagining Marie being happy here in Florida. Anne, Michelle, and I agreed that we would have to come spend a lot of time here with her to keep her company. There's a room in the basement that opens right out into the back yard, it had been the owner's mother's room and we thought it would be handy for mom to have a room like that. Anne felt some general disgust for the house because it seemed that there were more flying insects than one would expect.
Sub-scene: I am in Marie's new place and there is a bearded dragon lizard. I think it's peculiar, but I find out that they actually ARE native to Kentucky, just very rare. (We are in the house but in Kentucky for a moment, apparently). I want to gather some insects to feed it so I look for roly-polies. I accidentally fall asleep, wake up covered in ants, and scream for Marie to help me get them off of me.
Because Anne was going to school nearby, she, Michelle, and I decided to pile into my rental car and check out her dorm. The main drag was really wide and had these huge buildings to either side of the road that looked like 2 story Walmarts more than anything else. There was a Hardees that was only labeled by giant letter Hs above each entrance. Other stores were labeled in a similarly minimalistic way. I had traveled this road before and found it nerve-racking because of all the traffic coming, going, and crossing. What made this trip so much worse is that it was snowing enough to coat the road. I couldn't see the road or any signs, and it was too late to get the GPS working. We were in trouble! I turned and we slid all over the road. We contemplated sleeping in a parking lot for the night because we didn't think it was safe to get back on the road.
