The Writer's Pen

What do you dream about? If you're like me, you don't remember dreams long enough to know what they're about. Sometimes my night dreams and daydreams run together, and then I really get confused! Hopefully I'm not the only one with these problems.

I've been a daydreamer all my life. When I was in grade school, I often got in trouble for not paying attention to what was going on in class. I would sit there and try to listen to the teacher or work on an assignment, but something would invariably take my mind somewhere else. Anything could trigger this mind lapse – I might see a bird flying past the window, or a squirrel jumping from a tree. Sometimes I would think about the chores I had waiting for me at home, and that would usually snap me out of my dreams.

Part of my problem in those days was that I attended a one-room schoolhouse. I know what you're thinking, but I'm really not that old! The school I attended was a Parochial school that was still usable for the 30 kids that attended (K through 8). I loved our teacher, Miss Ulbricht, but she had her hands full with all the different grades and students. More than once I had to write my name on the chalkboard for not completing an assignment. My punishment was missing recess, writing an essay or cleaning chalkboards. It only got worse when I got home and my parents heard about it. I can't tell you how often I heard the words "Buckle down!"

I'd like to say things got better as I got into high school, but they didn't. There were different distractions at this point in my life, and sometimes the consequences were worse than cleaning a chalkboard. In high school I discovered girls and didn't know what to do about it. In Parochial school the girls I admired were the ones that could throw and hit a baseball, but in high school the girls I admired were the ones who smelled nice and had big smiles. If I got caught daydreaming in class, I would sometimes be called on by the teacher. "Would you like to share what you were thinking about?" There was never a good answer to that question.

As mentioned, I've been a daydreamer all my life, and there were consequences. I can't remember all of the injuries that occurred during my adult working years. Some were legitimate and some were the result of a distraction of some kind. Once, while scraping paint, I wasn't paying attention to my boring job. Somehow my ladder slipped and fell down with my arm under the ladder. The recovery from that injury was a nightmare!

My night dreams have been all over the place. I have been retired for 10 years and I still dream about my former job. In my dream I come in late, no one says anything about it, I pick out some job I feel like doing, work at it for a while and then leave early. Sometimes I go to the house we lived in prior to our present home, and I walk through all the rooms wearing nothing but my underwear. When evening comes, I go to the nearby gymnasium and start my evening coaching gig. Who and what, you ask? Why the Iowa State men's basketball team, of course!

Other night dreams, I believe, are a result of what I read or watch on TV before bedtime. I like to watch the late news, though I sometimes doze through the weather and sports. Later, when I wake up with a stiff neck, I turn to something light or funny. I can sleep pretty well if I go to bed laughing about "The Golden Girls," or read an article in a "Pheasants Forever" magazine. I like war movies and mysteries, but try not to watch them before I go to sleep.

"I have a dream!" is a line Martin Luther King is famous for. I'm not going to try to copy him, but rather give some of my hopes and dreams for the world we live in. First, I hope that one day we can rise above the pettiness in politics. My dream is that one day our political parties can become friendly rivals, sort of like the basketball teams of Iowa, Iowa State and UNI. With cooperation, maybe problems like rising insurance and medical costs can be solved.

Another hope I have is that our country will become a family-oriented Christian nation. Our forefathers had that dream, and I think it's a good one. At present I don't think either political party can talk about family values or patriotism without screaming at or demeaning the other. Our whole political system has become a nightmare. Norman Rockwell must be spinning in his grave!

As I get older I dream about a world that gets along with each other, at home and abroad. World peace would be great, but there are lots of issues and lots of opinions. Wouldn't it be great if people would agree to disagree? I think we'd all sleep better. Pleasant dreams!

Roger Brockshus and his wife, Rita, live in Spirit Lake where they are mostly retired. Roger is a member of the Hartley Writers and Poetry Group.