As a child I used to dream constantly. Vivid, imaginative dreams full of creatures, colors, and adventures. As a medium-aged person, dreams are few and far between, mainly because I am so dang exhausted by the time I crawl into my cove of bedding that I crash and sleep like a glacier bear in deep hibernation.
But once in a while, I am gifted with a vivid dream or two. In the early hours of this morning a memory dream of the most exquisite, life-like detail wafted through my slumbering consciousness. It was such a glorious experience that I decided to share it with you all as it involves a tale from my Alaska wilderness childhood.
When my family lived on Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska, we dwelled in the little burg of Thorne Bay. Thorne Bay started out as a massive logging camp and evolved into a little rustic bayside town. My best friend M was the local pastor's daughter, and as her dad was a pastor he sometimes made rounds. In parts of Alaska parishioner visiting rounds are not done by car or public transit, in Thorne Bay they were done by boat.
Many of the folks who attended our church lived out along the south arm of Thorne Bay. Pastor E had this amazing jet engine Boston Whaler that could go into pretty much any depth of water, as the tides up north can be pretty extreme, along with some inlets and coves being a touch shallow.
One day while M and I were dilly dallying about listening to Boys II Men and shooting hoops in their driveway (one of the only bits of pavement in town!), Pastor E walked out of the back door and asked us if we wanted to go visit some church folks out on the bay with him.
Like we had to even think about it, it was a lovely day out! The sun was shining and we were full of all the 90's kid enthusiasm two creatures could muster after watching The Sandlot for the fiftieth time.
A short while later we arrived at the dock, hopped onto his aluminum jet boat, and cast off for our adventure. Both M and I opted to plop ourselves on the bow of the boat and giggled with glee as Pastor E fired up the jets and proceeded to get the boat hurtled up on step.
Many wave jumps and outright jubilant expressions of glee shared by us and some accompanying seagulls later, we arrived at the cove where we were to visit the parishioners. The lady and her husband lived completely off grid, only running their generator for a few hours each evening. I remember the long dock leading up to the log and cedar house set in the trees. The house itself perched on a little bluff in the cove and looked like it had been there a eon. The place was very well kept and both M and I adopted a rather subdued and reverent countenance as we followed Pastor E around.
One thing I remember more than anything was the baskets. The lady who lived there made hand woven baskets. That and her piano. The place was like stepping back into a different era.
We were invited to dinner, buck steak and potato stew were the main course. M and I were a bit fidgety by this time and were given our leave to escape and peruse the grounds. It was then the magic happened.
The sun had already set as we skipped down the dock towards the jet boat. Pastor E was back at the house saying his goodbyes, and M and I were heading toward boat in deep discussion on which boy we thought had a crush on her that week.
It was then we saw a sight I have yet to see again, the entire surface of the water in the cove was glowing!
M and I stopped in shock. All around us the water was emanating a neon phosphorescent glow. Both our mouths hung open in awe.
Pastor E had caught up with us by then and explained to us that the glow was from bioluminescent creatures in the water. The darker the sky got, the brighter the water glowed.
I hurled myself belly down on the dock and stuck my hand in the water, When I plucked my paw back out my hand was glowing! Both M and I had a blast making our hands glow, it felt like we were sorceresses from another plane. Pastor E was pretty cool about our excitement and let us explore the scene for a bit before loading us up for the jet boat glide home.
As the boat cut a path through the bioluminescent glow upon the sea, my friend and I shared a secret smile of mirth. Something as routine as a visit to people had become an once in a lifetime experience for us, and I was so thankful that my brain decided to bless my before waking time with something so magical.
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yeah, good work, I'm waiting your success...
Geez, do you have a wood stove? I thought you did. How can you be chilly with a wood stove??
Seeing the bio-luminescence must have been wonderful! I'm assuming the dream was from an experience, as it sounded so life like...
Wow
I can tell that you and M had a great time while making your hands glow
That’s great