Strange Dream or Reality?
I’ve had nightmares so compelling that I shed tears of relief upon waking to find it was just a dream. In a dream where I was forced to help hide a dead body, the fear of being punished for someone else’s crime induced a cold sweat. The tension evaporated when I woke to my conventional, law-abiding reality. I worried about my autistic son not speaking from early on. I once had a dream where he spoke so articulately, the sense of reality so vivid, that I felt a huge weight lift from my heart. His lack of speech had just been a bad dream. And then I woke up. His speaking was a dream, and his barely verbal state was the harsh reality. The good dream/bad dream scenario can go either way. Waking up can lift a burden or bring heartache. But what if something that feels like a dream isn’t? What if that strange dream is our reality? That’s what this virus pandemic situation feels like to many. By odd coincidence, just as the strange new reality of social distancing rules was setting in, the weather in our area offered stunning, billowy cloud formations that we rarely see in San Francisco skies. Every cloud had a bigger-than-life, only-in-a-painting quality to it. Those dreamlike white clouds on a bright blue palette continued for days. Walking under these unusual skies feels like being in a Maxfield Parrish painting. Then we arrive home to shocking statistics blaring from the TV. We are floating through a temporary Twilight Zone reality. For this week’s Hike Notes, I’m sharing a hike from the archives, Milagra Ridge. The photo for this Insights post is from a walk at Milagra Ridge the day before shelter in place was implemented in San Francisco. The long list of Hikes can be found on the Quick View Hike List and on the main Hikes page. All past Insights posts can also be viewed in the Insights/Hike Update News archives. Check the Home page for the broader background story. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photo galleries at the bottom of each hike page! Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Please feel free to share. This week’s Hike Notes from the Archives: (Original Hike Notes 9): Milagra Ridge
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Lisa LouisSharing insights and hiking highlights (Hikes, Hike Search by Area) from the special needs caregiver front in San Francisco. Archives
February 2025
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