Before I even opened my eyes this morning, in that few seconds between sleep and waking, I was reminded that I am not young any more. It can be like switching universes, waking from a dream.
In my dreams, as far as I can remember, I am ageless. I may dream from a child's perspective, with Alice in Wonderlandish imagery. That's usually fun, and a little bit scary. Or I may dream the dreams of my early twenties - save the world! Look at me save the world!
Most often, I dream the common dreams. Bits of my day, bits of my past, stepping through the lens of what makes me me. Last night I had spectacularly vivid dreams. I was exploring somewhere, I remember that. A friend, or friends, were travelling with me. We were excited about something. We were in the middle of discovering . . . something. And then a sound or ray of light crept under my eyelids and I began to wake.
I became aware first of my shoulder. Throbbing ache. Old injury. And then my lower back. Herniated discs. Familiar pain. Slowly my body awoke to this day. This stage of this life. My first thought as I awoke was how my whole body hadn't ached in unison since before I moved to drier weather. And then it dawned on me that it must be humid out. If it's very humid, maybe there's fog. I love a foggy morning. I haven't seen a foggy morning since I lived elsewhere.
And I was off to the window, achy bones and all.
