A Confounded Visit

I'm working with my old friends from high school trying to build a transport for a variety of animals. There a lot of logistics involved and we're measuring carefully as we design the beds in which they will be moved and ultimately sleep. The spaces increase in size to meet the requirements of the animals. The larger below for horses and slowly increasing in size to make room for animals like rabbits and squirrels. A lot of work is going into building the frame and to ensure that its cushions for the smaller animals above are correctly designed,


I am at the family house of my third snf former wife who was from Sweden, The house has many rooms and my friends and are flabergasted that the frame we so carefully designed does not fit in the space for which it was designed. We fumble for solutions until I suggest that we remove the cushions for the horses below and lower the frame to that height because horses sleep standing up, anyway. We think of other ideas,too, and eventually the frame is fitted into its place.


I am in quest bedroom at the end of a hallway. [This room and the others surrounding it is a familiar theme in my dreams.] I am in bed and it is dark and I decide that I would like a nip of whiskey before sleep. I go wandering trying to find a glass and the liqueur cabinet. None of the light switches work in the kitchen. This is aggravating and reminds me of my brother's house where this problem occurs, too. [This is also a recurring theme in my dreams.] I am tense and worried that someone will detect me looking for a nip. I don;t find any glasses there.


I am in the dining room where I see what seems a group of liquor decantors surrounded by glasses. All are made of crystal. I hopefully approach them but the decanters are empty. I consider looking in the cabinet below to find a bottle of whiskey but I am interrupted by the distant sound of my former father-in-law moving about the house.


I run into him and instead of telling him what I am after lamely say that I want a drink of water but could not get the lights to work. I say I got lost and ask him where my bedroom is. He points down a hall and tells me that it is the last bedroom there.


In the bedroom there is a glass decanter on a silver tray and several glasses around it. The decanter is filled with water but when I take a sip from it only a dribble comes out. This doesn't change my desire for a nip of whiskey but I am unable to obtain it. I give up trying.


I am sitting on the edge of the bed where an old school buddy of mine is sleeping. We share stories of our youth and laugh at the wonder that we survived it. I point out that I did a lot of restoration work on the house (not entirely true) and that much of what he sees is my handiwork form back in the days when I was a welcome guest there. I had several disagreements with him during our friendship and true to his waspish nature makes several snide remarks. This ruins the mood for me and I leave.


I am filled with sadness that I am no longer a member of this family. At some point I am asked by my former father-in-law what happened that ended my marraige with his daughter. I reply that I went berserk, which is a Swedish word with the same meaning as its English counterpart. I think to myself that I should never have sit into my former wife's art nor done the hateful things I did. I am wistful and filled with sadness about the end of this and the family I lost.

I wake up expecting to find myself surrounded by my room at the house. But I am rudely made aware of my current circumstances and leave the bed to get a glass of wine.