I was at my parents’ house where we grew up. And my dad was there, inside. I was on the back driveway and 2 of my friends who live far away showed up on the lawn confident and happy to see me.

“Hey guys what are you doing here?”

“You told us to come,” Danny said without missing a beat. “Left me a voice mail all about Thursday night. Thursday night was gonna be all this and that.”

My heart leapt with anxiety and affirmation. Affirmation, that my friends had come so far to see me, that if you invite people they actually join you. Anxiety because I’d have to come up with a rockin Thursday night. I didn’t have any recollection of calling them, and this was a total surprise. So instead of saying how reassuring it was they’d come and wanted to hang, I asked Danny if he could replay that voice mail for me because I didn’t remember it at all!

But who cares. This was a good dream and my friends were looking for fun and my company. I got on the phone with a drug dealer and started to hurry together a plan.

Meantime, inside with my father, he warned me to be careful with the dynamite I was building in the driveway. I’d been working on it when my friends surprised me. It consisted of 2 semi circle shaped wedges, filled with what looked like drywall, with grooves in them through which I was trying to fit an aluminum bridge which would connect the dynamite together. Not sure what the plan with that was. But something fun.

Then I was back on the driveway, hanging w my 2 friends again, and the neighbor kids all showed up to join us on the lawn. 12-17 year olds. They had lawn chairs and blankets. They were talking and messing with each other. I figured I wouldn’t notice them too much and they’d feel comfortable staying.

It was great to feel like this. Cool. Liked. Felt warm and pleasant inside. I’ve been excluded from groups my whole life. Took me a while to realize it. Even longer to figure out why. Though on the latter I think it’s unjustified. But that’s how people are. I’m just not the type people pursue to be around come weekends. I usually have to call around and ask what people are doing. And sometimes I’ll get an invite. So maybe this dream is a harbinger of new things to come. For me, for our country, for the way the world feels about us.