February 24th 2004, Tuesday.
Slept soundly for 3 hours, then was awake 1½ hours. Decided to stay in for the morning. Slept another 2½ hours, some vivid dreaming.
Per and I had been back-and-forth re H as our most favorite PDIer. This must’ve been the “day residue,” because in the dream, I remember waiting on H… for something I can’t remember. He was recovering from some condition. Mental condition? Then, I was out in a snow-covered field or large parking lot. I was waiting for another friend, a woman in her late 40s or early 50s. She got in her car, and then some jerk started to harass her car with his. As she drove forward, she hit some railing, climbed over it, with the jerk continuing somehow to harass her. Her car tumbled over the railing, down an embankment. Of course, so did his car. He must’ve been ejected, because from the railing I saw him out of the car, appearing shaken but OK. I then leaped, I mean literally leaped from the railing to get him. When he saw me, he started to run. Then, I stretched my arms out and tracked him with my arms, almost like Superman, and instead of a freefall, I had curved more horizontally toward him. I must’ve caught him. There was more to the dream, but I can’t remember it now.
Ate lunch at Spisa. Per was upset about an e-mail from D castigating him. We talked about how D is prone to react.
Walked up a Kungsgatan, then to the Tourist Centre. It was a snowy afternoon in Stockholm. I had spent most of the day so far at his apartment, sleeping and putzing about.
Took a train, then a bus to Per’s parents’ house at the outskirts of Stockholm.
Had dinner with his parents. Swedish sausage, mashed potatoes, green peppers and tomatoes, apple cider, and Semla (poured hot milk in a bowl, soaked Semla in, took off “hat” and ate it, then ate rest of it with a spoon).
Per’s father, Sven, is 70, retired from an auto shop he owned in downtown Stockholm (we passed it during our drive through the town that evening). Her mother, in her late 50s, works as a supervisor for a company that helps to transport money from businesses to the bank. Her office is not too far from Per’s apartment. She was like my mother, social and energetic. She was shoveling snow when Per and I arrived. I offered to help, but she smiled, and said “No, I’m used to it.” She spoke English well, but he didn’t. Their house is small, but the family has lived there a long time, and was where Per had his growing up years. We went downstairs to his old bedroom. They’re in the process of packing up and moving to a smaller house. At their age, their current house is too big. We had dinner in their kitchen; the window looked out into their backyard, where there were tall pine trees. Per’s father sat closest to the window, directly opposite where I was sitting. And both he and his mother gazed out in the yard, and enjoyed the fact that it was not entirely dark at that late hour in the afternoon (about 5:30 PM). The days were slowly getting longer.
I wanted to meet his parents, and being with them, the three of them, made me feel so much at home that I wished we could’ve stayed there longer and talked some more. There I was, a stranger to them, or rather someone they had just met, but one they welcomed with open arms, solely by virtue of my being a friend of their son. I am SO fortunate to have met, and now know, such kind people!
Went for golf practice. Per got some coaching, and see some of his golf friends. I “practiced” myself. And actually I was hitting the ball OK. The facility had three levels where people could drive or hit chip shots. There was a large canvas in front of us, where the facility projected images of a golf course. The more I thought about and was deliberate about what I was doing, the less predictable my shots became.
Per and his parents took me on a car tour of the central part of Stockholm. I was really enthralled by the tour, and it actually helped to orient me more to the city. We stopped a few times, once on the opposite side of the Vasamuseet. And from this side, we could see the Big Church in Old Town and the pointy-steepled German church.
Did some e-mails at the office for an hour or two. Got back home, and talked, and had a nightcap. It was after 1 AM, before we retired for the night.
No comments:
Post a Comment