holaolah

They Complicate My Life

I moved to Philly with dreams of turning this wonder of a blog into a chronicle of my ebbs and flows and woes as a home remodeler. It was going to be cool, with fresh pics and witty and sharp commentary. Then the grant for the intern never came through and, well, one thing led to another and I've been in a deep funk since losing one of my closest companions not so long ago.  (a self referential link on one's blog is the equivalent of a derivative of a derivative. Which can only equal good things.)

My life here is a lot different than the one I lived in Newark. It's busier and more active. I come home from work and get back to work as opposed to making chickens and such. And it's good for me... it's just not so good for you and your obsession with tracking the doings of the hola. You'll get what I give you and that will be enough. Now go to bed.

Mr Earle, Row Your Boat Ashore

Kelly is quite proud of her ability to see into my dreams.

I wonder what she would say about the one I had a while back in which another Steve, Steve Earle, was rowing in a small boat in the pond behind my house. I wasn't sure it was him so I called out, "Steve?  Steve Earle? Is that you Steve Earle?"

He responded, "Yup. It's me. How you doin'?"

The part where I called out to Mr. Steve Earle--that was audible. I knew it was because Janell's laughter brought me back to the conscious world.

What's In a Name + Some Scary Insights From Kelly

Today's original hola text can be found on Kyle's masterfully edited "Bridgeton Legends" blog. It's a simple story with a lot of insight (if I do say so myself).

To take care of the next part of the title, Kelly came back from vacation in the Outer Banks in time to provide a rather startling and insightful take on my dream of Steven and the Wolves. She knows me well, but I didn't know she knew me that well. Perhaps she's a witch of some sort. I am glad I did not give her that trash bag of hair she requested after my recent haircut.

Dream Interpretation Challenge: Steven & The Wolves:

Last night Steve and I were re-living the experience of 10 or so years ago by hiking around Boulder or maybe Nederland. This time Karen had decided to join us. She was there in spirit but not physically, I just remembered that I should make sure she was OK when the wolves came charging at us.

Here's how it happened... Steve and I were back in the woods somewhere in Colorado and we were going down a path. We came to a fork in the trail. Based upon what I could remember from the time we had supposedly hiked this same route 10+ years prior, I was sure that left was the direction we should travel. And that road made all the difference.

By this point in the trip Steve was leading the hike. Again, Karen was somewhere near but not in sight.  We weren't on this new path but 15 minutes when I noticed something peculiar in the trail up ahead. I told Steve to stop and be still. I then took a few steps ahead to investigate. I saw four wolf pups (or are they cubs, or wolflings?) about 20 yards ahead of us on the trial. Some point of instinct told me that their Wolfmother was probably not that far behind.

I stated something completely obvious to this affect, "Steve. I think we should back up and try to avoid these wolves. Their mom is probably close by." We took about three giant steps backward before they all started running after us. I turned to look back and realized that the little wolves were blocked by a fence and that we were actually in some type of wild animal preserve deep in the forest.

Reassured of our apparent safety, we stopped to catch our collective breath. While doing this we noticed signs advertising the preserve as well as a few old pick up trucks placed on cinderblocks in monument to their years of dedicated service. 

We had just started to laugh and thank Jehovah for our great fortune when a large male adult wolf came bounding over the barbed wire fence that held back the cubs from attacking us. Three other adults followed their alpha male buddy over the fence. These weren't ordinary wolf jumps. The wolves leapt over the fence like the characters from "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." They had the ability to fly.  I chalked it up to experiments the preserve warden was running on his "protected" animals.

Steve and I yelled in unison, "RUN!" and we split up in the preserve picnic area. I thought of Karen and wondered if she was safe. I looked back to see how Steve was doing and saw him standing on top of a picnic table, bracing himself  for the impact of the three wolves that were simultaneously jumping toward his face.

I turned to run toward him to get eaten as well and my right foot had barely hit the ground with the first stride of my sprint to save Steve when Janell woke me up because it was 5:35 AM and she thought I was late for work. I was startled and irrationally upset at her because I couldn't attempt to save Steve from the wolves.   

What does this mean? The best submitted interpretation, via comments, will win some sort of prize. I do eventually follow through on these promises of prizes so you know it's legit.