And a few more dreams after the time-travel one a couple nights ago...

While hard to stay up past ten for me to watch the exciting overtime finale of the Super Bowl, I managed and was thrilled to see the way-cool player charging toward the end line and managing to get the Ball over the line  while still in hand which qualified as a touchdown. I am a newbie to the game but got to hear that clarification about 'what makes a touchdown'.

I thought that must have been one of the better games and again heard that was indeed the case given many stats for players, a coach and the odds of 1 in 191 that the Patriots or any team could have recovered from the other team's, The Falcons from Atlanta in this 2017 case, lead of 25 points.

I may be stumbling over the way to say what millions saw as a super-human game, with every player giving their all to get that ball. The fanfare of the half-time show also got people rocking and a sense of shared understanding that sometimes words are not needed...sound, movement, light, movers and shakers can carry the ball to the end zone. 

When I finally got to bed after 11:30 pm, I thought I'd savor every minute of what transpired with a very good night's sleep. As far as  I know that was the case.

Then I had a dream I was going to see a show down ( I think Tommy again, which in ways could be dedicated to Torrington's own--and my cousin-- Gerard Coury who sadly after having a life of athletic and academic success as a quaterback at Torrington High School and pursuing a few years at Fairfield University in CT had some instability and met with a bitter end being bullied and chased in NYC factoring into his death on a subway line in1981.

Whether Gerry's challenges after leaving college and trying to get to DC to work in a restaurant was  linked to his cruel passing or if that could have happened to anyone in the Times Square setting, particularly if not being offered sufficient help if robbed of his shirt, shoes and belongings as many said likely was the case whether over the cours of one or more days is Still Very Unclear. More people could address these kinds of cases and offer ideas for recognizing the situation and any family or friends who would appreciate hearing of collective caring responses.

While times have improved in many ways, new challenges have also emerged for anyone facing problems when needing to travel or get good support in the NYC area. Many homeless have shared with me that they cannot manage the demands for shelters and support and that many places are far less safe than the streets.

I have met pregnant and otherwise compromised homeless people and my heart goes out to all of them. Far more funds and efforts likely could be implemented fairly easily especially in the warmer months when transitioning may be easier. In the colder seasons, more mobile shelters for some basic warming supplies or support for travel money to warmer climates would make sense.

The many efforts that could help should be well -publicized and put at libraries and ideally at more faith ourtreaches such as St. Patrick's Cathedram and St. John the Divine (a few basic' go-to places) and maybe the Unitarian Church and YMCAs. Just a thought.. now back to my dream...

In my dream I was going to Torrington about a half hour drive on one main road from Sharon Ct.

 I managed in my dream to get in the car and head out some on some main road that would take me to my destination (in this case if was Route 4 which leads straight through Goshen onto my destination 6 miles further or so.

Well in my dream as I was driving along, I realized I was getting my sleepy and starting to close my eyes. I realized that was not good, and tried not to allow for that. I kept telling myself, "Open your eyes." I thought it can't be that hard, they are my eyes and have lids and a way to open and all I have to do is say it and kind of make them open and that should be that.

But if I got them open in my dreams, they somehow slammed back shut. Now it was dark out and of course, with my eyes closed, all the darker. I decided I couldn't keep driving with my eyes close and was grateful that I was somehow speeding along without incident. I didn't want to count on good luck so decided I better Slow Down and ideally Pull Off The Road. Now I had to think, what do I need to do Make the car slow down?

That would be press on the brakes. I realize I have been driving a car now and then that requires one to press on the brake pedal to Start the car. I reminded myself that the brake would slow the car down now (in my dream) since the car was in motion. I managed to find the brake pedal with my foot and then pull over and hope the side of the country road would accommodate this move.

Thankfully I was finding a nice pull off and was able to open my eyes in my dream (now that I was getting the car to stop.) Still sleepy and eyes not quite awake, I found my way into a public type building that turned out to be a nice nursing home...in Litchfield.

Oh gee, I really must have been missing some moments there while 'asleep at the wheel' (in my dream..not a real problem in life thankfully, so far.) I must have made a right hand turn in Goshen so likely I wouldn't be getting to my destination in time. As I tried to sort these matters out with someone who told me I could just sit down for a bit to think things over, I felt grateful yet puzzled.

Could this be a sign of early dementia (I wondered in my dream)?  Before I could worry the matter much longer I woke up at 7am (my first alarm).

After a bit I was able to sleep until 7:30am and had other aspects of the dream unfold or maybe this part was the second part of the dream. I can't quite recall later in the day (now about 2pm). Maybe it will come back to me. The idea of the theme of the Tommy show, the Super Bowl and retracing my steps were all circling round.

I thought as I was waking up too though that our teen son Kaelan had loved watching the Patriots of NE with his father, grand father and others since he was a kid. Was he at the big game (with the sport-loving grandpa?) Could he have helped the fellows with the final plays?  Maybe all athletes and performers have extra support from the wings of heaven.

A few folks who I spoke with in theatre circles have thought that could be the case. The lives of actors, sport heroes and others like the charachter in Tommy shed insight into our human existence in a therapeutic and compelling way.

The people who have journeyed on ahead of us leave us many legacies, stories and feelings to ponder our whole lives long. Some things resonate more than others. When Kaelan was running a simple foot race he tripped before finishing first, so others sped ahead to claim his victory. He seemed so disappointed it took him a while to shake it off.

The injustice of losing when he was meant to win hurt him more than his effort not being rewarded. Yet in his final acts of courage to save a third friend after rescuing two others from the river bank, he was forging ahead in ways any football player would realize was super human.

Every ounce of his heart, mind and body was directed to the task at hand. Kaelan was not going to take no for an answer, he would not be defeated in his effort to save his friend in dire need. He leapt into raging waters and swam in horrendous water to reach his friend 20-30 feet away who was clinging to a rock.

Somehow in pushing his friend toward the current, Kaelan was taken in an undertow on June 16th, 2009. Moments later the rescuer Skip from Cornwall came on his ropes with a harness to put around the young man Kaelan had given his life to help save.

Thankfully even with waters pounding heavily and relentlessly, forcing the pair apart for a moment after the youth was harnessed, Skip was able to return up to the rocks 40' or more above. That is when Skip heard the teen calling out, "Where's Kaelan?"

That question broke many hearts for the next few days while more rain and searches at the base of the falls and down the river's edge were led as was reasonable. Only a week later did a trainman happen to spot Kaelan's heroic body making its way down the river, seven miles from where he took his last breath.

Once again recovery efforts were made, with Skip from the nearby West Cornwall Covered Bridge and others responding swiftly to retrieve Kaelan's body and bring his body to rest on a sandy shore just past the Bridge. Kaelan had boated those waters and raced there at the Housatonic River Covered Bridge Slalom Race with his Dad David Paton.

David had trained for the Olympics a couple decades prior and was the 5th boat on a 4-boat team, paddling C-2, or closed canoe with two paddlers in it. The need to coordinate efforts in the boat while negotiating slalom hanging gates that hung above the water, some needing to be paddled downstream but others upstream, put the many talented boater's skill to the test. Local competitors hosted in a special house with their own training course organized and largely funded by Olympian competitor Jamie McEwan put the area on the map.

The idea of people coming together out in the woods in small towns where nothing much happens could make it feel like any dream were possible to achieve if one gave their full effort and persistence even in their own backyard. Jamie passed away five years after Kaelan on almost the same day in June.

I had seen him at the riverside the day Kaelan died so again feel that we never know which feats we are likely  undertaking whether dramatic sports or life-saving efforts, or fnding the inner strength and lending support for another to keep the faith in life and goodness when times get rough and weariness of body and soul can start to wash over one's heart, mind, body and team.

Let's not give up the good fight of Staying in the Game of Life. Too many people are struggling to find solid ground, to avoid plunge holes and downward spirals of inner and outer dilemmas.

The political scene of conflict and radicalization seems to be sweeping many off their feet and into a realm of fear and confusion. Let's see how we might learn to 'eddy out' (pull into a quiet spot of a river, or off a road if driving) and get help opening our eyes, hearts, minds, networks and ways to communicate and advocate for a brighter day and world.

We can do this, though we trip, stumble and grapple with how to regain ground whether socially, physically, ethically or economically. No one person is beyond many basic needs and missteps and the new mandate for survival is for more of us to choose to walk in harmony and take meaningful steps together rather than hope any one person can 'save the day."