Dream: strange creatures at the cottage

I set my clock alarm to wake me at the usual time this morning. The volume was somewhat iffy, and I didn't wake until the 6:00 news came on. It felt so delicious, having a free weekend ahead of me. I contemplated getting up and starting my routine early, but drifted back to sleep.

I was at the cottage, feeling unusually happy. While rooting around in the storage room I heard a strange commotion outside: a loud splashing, as if something large had lept out of the lake. I could not see what had happened, but in my mind's eye saw a large predator like a black panther ambush and take down a six-point buck. It occurred to me that since this had occurred at the edge of the lake, the prey was most likely a moose. We have never seen or heard of any large predators in the area, so the chance of it being a wolf or cougar was remote but possible.

I went into the kitchen and Mom was there. I told her what had happened. She looked good, like a woman in her 70s without cancer or arthritis, and was moving lithely from room to room, tidying things.

I stood on the lake shore in front of the cottage. The trees around me seemed denser and darker, with more mature hemlocks and fewer maples. We did not have a dock. Something strange floated into our bay. I thought at first it was an animal carcass, but it turned out to be a loose mat of sphagnum moss and bog plants. This confirmed my theory that a predator had attacked a deer near another cottage. I went looking for someone to tell.

I hiked alone along a winding gravel road. All the roads in the area are gravel, but this was unusually rough, like a logging road. I noticed a tall dead conifer standing near a fork in the road.

Somehow this inspired me to write something for LiveJournal about synaesthesia. On a couple of occasions I have inexplicably seen colours, but they seemed connected more with emotions than other senses. I thought anoisblue might be able to explain. In my dream I had two examples, but can't remember what they were.

"Danny, will you turn on the light?" I said.

We were in a building like the Toronto Science Centre and he was standing in a control booth somewhere while I walked along a hall with walls made of large translucent plastic panels. When he flipped a switch, the wall to my right turned intense blue. The colour did something strange to my vision, made me see double. This was going to be my third point for the LJ post.

I was hanging out in the woods again, this time with Brenna. We stood on the road behind the cottage overlooking the marsh, but the marsh was much larger like the one behind the beaver dam, with a wide lazy stream running into the distance towards some real mountains (we don't actually have these, but in the dream I was unimpressed). Brenna decided to go for a walk in the marsh. We couldn't get down from where we were, but she walked around the bend and next thing I saw her walking away, up the stream. She did this without getting her feet wet.

I spotted a large bird on the far side of the stream, hanging on the side of a massive tree. The trunk was as broad as a cliff. My vision was magnified so I could see the bird clearly. It had its back to me and looked the size and shape of an owl.

"Look!" I called in a loud whisper. "Just ahead of you!"

Brenna saw the bird immediately and went forward with her cellphone to take a picture. The bird turned and looked at her. The head was large like an owl's, but inclined forward and shaped like a hawk's. All the plumage including its face was light brown and streaked. I decided it was a hawk owl. It had intelligent eyes. It hopped closer to Brenna with strong feet clinging to the bark.

"Put out your hand and it will hop on," I said.

She did, and it did.

"Got it," she said excitedly.

"I didn't bring my camera," I said with disappointment.

"Don't worry, I have my phone."

She took pictures and I could see them like a slide show. They were perfect, as if someone else had taken them standing a few feet away from Brenna and the bird.

"I have to tell LiveJournal about this," I thought, then realized I was dreaming and woke up.