i want to be there

i was on this busy downtown street and decided to go down a side street. it was a lot less populated. then i saw angelina jolie and brad pitt playing with their kids in front of a multi-story building while various neighborhood people did their own thing, not bothering the famous people. it was a nice typical small-town scene and i liked it. then somehow the dream changed and there were two babies and two mommas inside a house and i was helping with the babies (everything was serious and dark and one of the babies cried a lot), but then i went outside and was looking at flowers along the front sidewalk with my husband and couple of other people when five serious-looking men walked up. they said they wanted to see the house and i said just a minute and poked my nose in the front door (of a completely different house from the one i’d walked out of) asking our friend the owner if he knew about people wanting to see the house. he said, “see if the agents will stay out while the buyers come in” and i thought ‘huh???’, then he and his wife started madly gathering up toys and stuff, grabbing two of the three dogs and making their way toward the back of the house, gathering as they went. i turned to the people and said, “do you agents want to wait here while the others go on inside?” and the agents looked at me like ‘don’t be a total stupid idiot.’ so then, followed by everyone, i turned and went inside, grabbing the collar of the great dane and two of his huge play toys and made my way to the back of the house where everyone else was just heading out the back door. i went out the door and .... wow! it was a gorgeous winter day with about three feet of snow on everything and tons of people outside merrily enjoying the snow and sun. there was park land on both sides of the street and many people were skiing down the sloped street to the bottom, so i went into the street and started skate-skiing with only my boots. it worked perfectly!! i gently skied down the street, totally enjoying the freedom, totally relaxed, and totally marveling that i’d never done this before. people were talking on the sidewalks, and gathered on decks and porches -- there was a lovely gather-the-humanity-and-let’s-party feeling to the day. when i got to the bottom, i walked back up the sidewalk, noticing one fellow and his friends on a second-story deck just after they had hit a golf ball and were watching it soar, and i was wondering how they were going to be able to see it unless it was painted one of those phosphorescent colors. then i went out in the street to continue walking back up the hill along with everyone else. some young guy and his girlfriend said “where are your skis” and i said “i used my boots but i need to get a pair of those things (his poles).” they smiled and went on, but i turned around to ski again, suddenly realizing i had walked too far. it was a very steep slope at that point, so i walked back down to a more appropriate level and started to ski again when some wicked voice in my head said, “picture this: you’re skiing along and hit pavement or a rough spot and then go flying end-over-end. you’d get hurt.” at that point i woke up, but what a shame to have that lovely experience left on a stern note of joy-kill.