Nerd dreams

I mentioned recently that I seem to go through these periods where I have dreams I remember. I seem to be in one at the moment. Last night’s dream wasn’t what I’d call one of my classically weird ones, but it was one of the compelling, interesting ones, in which the world’s just a little askew.

In this one, I had the silver car I had previous to this one, and I was driving it back to 1970 to take photos of a construction site. I was puzzled when I arrived there, trying to figure out where it was, and I finally decided it was the reconstruction of the intersection of Winston Churchill Blvd. and Erin Mills Parkway. I can’t show you what that intersection looked like before the reconstruction, nor afterwards, for that matter, because it doesn’t exist. Winston Churchill Blvd. and Erin Mills Parkway are Peel Region’s sixth and fifth west concession roads respectively, and as such they run parallel to each other 7/8 of a mile apart. Big points to anyone who can tell me the Freudian aspect of this detail. :)

Anyway, when I got there, Erin Mills Parkway was in the process of being upgraded from Fifth Line. It was a scar of reddish-brown dirt six lanes wide, with big yellow construction machines scattered on it, momentarily stopped for lunch or something, I guess. The road dipped down under the railroad underpass they were building, and at the top of the hill, beyond what had been the level crossing, was a very busy Winston Churchill Blvd. that reminded me more of Queen Street in Streetsville or Dundas Street near the Junction… lots of low-rise storefronts/apartments that don’t actually exist on Winnie anywhere (went straight from country road to suburban drive with no little towns on it in between).

This is where it gets interesting. Right in the middle of the road was this old farm house. It was due to be razed, but hadn’t been just yet. A family was still living there. I was with them on their porch, shooting the scene with a digital SLR camera. They knew I was from the future and were impressed the camera had no film. It was no big deal to anyone I was from the future; in the world of the dream, that kind of thing happened. It was like living in the old country and being visited by relatives from the New World or something. They didn’t ask me questions about what was going to happen. They were more interested in my impressions of the time they were living in.

And suddenly my dad was there, looking like he does today. I have the impression he’d come with me. But when I looked at him again, he seemed younger. The next time I looked at him, he looked like he would have been back then, a man considerably younger than I am now. He seemed really happy and self-confident. I didn’t think of it in the dream but I wonder if he meant to stay.

Anyway, that was pretty much the run of the thing. Nothing wild or truly weird. Just stuff I found nerdishly interesting. I love dreams like that.