A Living Magazine - Day 311 - Homecoming - Bear to Newport

I was in that twilight state, not really asleep yet, but getting closer. Then I heard kids talking beside me. Several little black kids, I thought, and looked out through the tent (somehow) to see three little smiling brown faces looking over a brick wall at me and then hide again when I looked back at them. "Shit!" I thought, "I've been discovered." But it seemed like day time outside. I opened my eyes in the tent and realized I was just dreaming that I'd been seen; realizing that I couldn't actually see through the tent, and that there was no brick wall. "Silly!" I thought.

I lay my head back down and as soon as I closed my eyes, the giggling of those little guys started again! It was loud too, very unambiguous. They were spying on me, the little brats! I thought that I turned my head to look outside through the tent, and there they were again, hiding behind that same brick wall, peeking over it.

For a moment, I couldn't tell whether I was in another place and the wallking adventure and tent night were the dream (which, if you think about it, does seem like a more ridiculous scenario if you were actually just a guy hanging out in a city neighborhood napping in the backyard and being bugged by the kids next door.

Then I woke up again and realized where I really was. Yet, it occurred to me that with the very realistic dreamlet about the kids, it seemed my mind could just as easily be in another place--any place, really. It was a passing curiosity. I lay back down and closed my eyes.

Then there was the giggling again! Really loud this time--with other things, like city sounds. But I wasn't even asleep yet. How could this be? I opened my eyes just for a second and saw the dark tent, but the giggling still went on for a couple seconds, until I decided I was going to lift my head--then it stopped, right before I actually made the attempt. This was weird!

Several years ago, I went through a similar situation when I was first learning to lucid dream. I would hear sounds that persisted for a few seconds even after waking up. At that time, I decided to simply sleep despite the sounds, and they grew louder and louder, with more and more sounds being added to the din. It was exactly like they were all around the outside of me, but they weren't they were entirely in my head. It was like a thousand radio and TV stations, plus people in a crowd, jets flying by, trains going past, dogs barking--as if I was hearing all the sounds in the world. Back then, this cloud of sound, turned into a swirling mass of white noise, eventually leading to a several lucid dreams. This night in Bear was just like that.

Back in the tent on this night I decided that this time I would simply listen. I closed my eyes and the giggling began again, then cars that sounded like they were all around me, then honking horns, and some lady talking to her cat, then a jet plane taking off... All of it was layering over itself, more and more, getting louder and louder. It was scary, but since I remembered what had happened a few years ago, I knew that somehow it would lead somewhere. So I grit my figurative teeth and surrendered to it. 

The auditory swirling mass became visible to me as a million points of colored light; a mandala. It was a portal of some kind. I knew instinctively that all I  had to do was relax and trust what was about to happen. That was the hardest part. But, I did it. And suddenly, the sound had now turned into a deafening roar, like a hurricane wind, combined with the spinning colors, and I was catapulted somewhere...

I opened my inner eyes and saw that I was standing on a REAL, damp lawn. The world around me was obviously real, material and very alive. I was behind a brick mansion. I don't recognize the location, but it could have been in any of the states I'd been through, or some place completely new to me. I was astounded! I breathed, and smelled the cool air. I rubbed my eyes to make sure that I was really awake and not sleeping. In the back of my mind, I knew it was a Lucid Awareness, but I had the strong urge to play along with what was being presented, rather than to mess around as I had done in so many other instances (putting my hands through walls, flying, creating characters, etc.). 

Somehow, I knew that this was a new kind of lesson. I wasn't being forced to do this new activity. I really wanted to do it. Then I searched my mind for my life back in the tent, and felt how heavy my body was, lying on that rough bumpy ground, with my hand touching the side of my face, and feeling my whiskers on it.

I got distracted by this dual feeling (1) standing on a backyard somewhere else, and (2) having my body asleep in a dark tent, near a highway. And, I should tell the reader, that this is NOT fiction. This really, truly happened to me. I am telling you, not because I want to impress you with a good story, but because I think it has merit and is possible for anyone to experience. Anyway...

This distraction of duality, caused me to slip further back into the tent body and away from this backyard scene. Inevitably, I opened my eyes in the tent. I wanted to go back, badly! I felt very comfortable, and sleepy. So, I closed my eyes again.

Immediately, the sound vortex began building again, and I let it all happen again. This time I said to the spinning whooshing mass that I wanted to see the future (I mean what the hell, right?).

When the climax of sound and light pulled me out this time, I was in the same backyard.  I bent down to touch the grass and could feel each blade feather over my fingers, cold dew, dripping down them. Then I looked up, and oh my god!

All over the sky was activity. There were drones of all kinds of different shapes with logos on them flying from place to place. Some were tiny and whizzed by, and some were the size trailer trucks, lumbering along slowly. And these were not quadcopters, with their little spinning blades. They were powered in some other way. There were a couple of quadcopters, but most had, screens or vents and would blow out thrust from them to right themselves. There were also drones that rode along the ground of all sizes and shapes.

I remember very specifically when a white roundish drone about the size of a riding lawnmower flew right toward me and over my head, slowly at about 20 feet high. I got the distinct impression it was a postal  drone. It had thick red, white and blue stripes that made it look like a Priority Mail package.

Was I actually seeing the future? If it was, it was the near future, because most everything else looked the same, even the cars (though a bit sleeker) still looked like they do today. However, when I walked up the hill to the street, people were not driving them. They drove themselves, and people were just hanging out talking to each other in them. A semi passed by, with a windshield painted completely white--driverless. It occurred to me that there were no more truckers, no more cab drivers...

I couldn't believe how much was going on. There were more people on the streets walking too. Everyone seemed pretty happy. I'd alway thought maybe there would be a dystopian future. It was so strange. I always thought that if machines took over our busy work, many people would be unemployed, but such was not the case. Labor was changing. Where intuitively the standard of living should be worse with people not attending to all of driving and delivering, new kinds of positions opened up. The machines were so efficient and made fewer errors, and they never needed breaks... Wow!

I turned and walked down the sidewalk and into the front door of the brick mansion. When I opened the door, I felt myself being pulled back to the tent, where I woke. My body felt so comfortable. I could barely keep my eyes open. And, that was just fine, because I was ready try a new journey. Can't tell you just how gratifying this was! I felt like I was getting more rest than usual, but wasn't unconscious at all. When I closed my eyes again I went straight into the next scenario--with no loss of consciousness; but also not choosing anything about it ahead of time--I think I just forgot to make request.

I seemed to be in the same time period as the last dream - maybe within the next thirty years - but indoors. I wanted to stay out of the conversationsand just watch. So, I did what I do on the street and simply walked around this building observing. Two women were talking. The first seemed to be a job coach of some kind. The other was asking for her advice. I don't remember the exact words, but the gist was that corporations did a vast series of studies as the machines began being introduced into the labor market. 

They discovered that most employees who had office jobs were actually doing about 15 hours of real solid work per week. But, they were being for paid for 40. Most of the other hours at work were spent socializing and using social media. The true work day had consisted of looking busy, and making 3 hours of effort seem to last all day. Offices all over the country closed and sent their employees home to work. Manual laborers (in general) became maintenance workers for the machines. Code writing became a one of the largest industries, with heavy competition between firms to write more intuitive code. 

I whooshed in and out of several more places, going back to the tent after each. I was so into observing that I seemed to forget that I could act in these places. In fact, it turned into more like a dream, and less like my typical Lucid Awareness states. And, at some point I think they just became regular dreams, as I forgot in the morning what had happened in the last few. 

I felt quite refreshed when I awoke in the tent. It had only sprinkled, but threatened to be raining later. I really wanted to get to Wilmington and was willing to risk walking in the rain...

Another cross on the road. Terrell Lawson. This time we have a very sad story...

 Copyright Delaware Online, 12/25/15

Man dies in crash on U.S. 40 in Bear

A passenger in a box truck was killed early Friday morning in Bear when the vehicle veered off of the westbound lanes of Pulaski Highway (U.S. 40) and struck a parked tractor-trailer.

The initial investigation by the Delaware State Police determined that the International box truck, driven by Terence Jones, 43, of Newport, drifted off of the roadway and partially onto the shoulder before it struck the rear of an unoccupied Kenworth tractor-trailer.

Jones and his passenger, Terrell Lawson, 36, of New Castle, were trapped in the truck following the crash until responding firefighters could get them out, state police said in a statement. Emergency crews transported them both to Christiana Hospital, where Lawson died.

Jones was treated with non-life threatening injuries.

The Delaware State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit is investigating the crash and is considering alcohol as a contributing factor to the crash.

It was Christmas morning, 2015. Every life has a story and for every one of us that story will end in death. When people learn about the end of the story it gives it extra value. Researching further, it appears that alcohol was probably a factor, and the driver may be charged with negligence. I just looked at Mr. Lawson's Facebook page. It is moving to see his buddies keep "checking in" with him--missing him.

I stood at the place where Mr. Lawson met his end. I would not have known about his story without wallking. And, though it doesn't really affect our adventure, I don't think it hurts to learn a little bit about someone else.

I believe I got to Wilmington before most of the people stuck in the traffic jam shown here.

Heading into Wilmington was a bit of a dreary experience. There was a steady, but light rain, the sky was dark, and - as so often happens - I was coming in through a rough part of the city. The first fragrance I smelled was sewer, all the way up and over this bridge...

I passed by the Amtrak station, noting where it was for whenever I might raise the money to move on. I was not yet sure whether I was going to go to New Jersey first or straight up to New York. I was nearly broke and my ambitious plan to visit the Jersey Shore was beginning to become the unrealistic pipe dream I thought it might turn into when I first dreamed it.

I was searching for the Starbucks on Orange Street. I hadn't made a screenshot of the location so I simply found Orange and walked north expecting to see it. I got all the way to the northern section of the city, which was really quite nice...

I never found Starbucks along the way though, and needed to get online to find a sleep spot. The last time I viewed Google Earth it was slim pickins. The only other option I knew of was to go back to the riverfront, near Amtrak and find the other Starbucks there. I'd wanted the Orange Street location because it was open later. The one by the river closed at 7:00 p.m. Now I'd wasted an hour, but hoped to make it back in time to make some screen shots...

Along Orange Street.

Wilmington was not exactly an inspiring place to me. Had I stayed longer, perhaps I would have discovered more. But the only folks I saw were street people. I was begged several times, but had nothing to give.

Back at the riverfront, I walked along the path to Starbucks. Fancy bird houses seem to be the thing here. Lucky birds...  

I made it to Starbucks with one hour left before closing. On Google the only two candidates I could find were just to the west of the city. I made a series of screenshots, and set out right at closing time. 

It took much longer than I thought to get down Route 4. This road brought me through a fairly nasty part of town. As I kept walking, however, the first park came into view...

Mill Creek Park.

When I checked out the entrance to this rather substantial park, I saw a sign prohibiting just about everything, including camping. And, since the sun was now down and the hours of the park were "Sunrise to Sunset," it just felt wrong to go in. I sighed and returned to my southward trek down Route 4, hoping the next park would do the trick.  If not, I decided I would simply keep walking down 4 until I found a place. It was - after all - the road I had originally planned to come in on, before messing up the day before and I knew that if I went far enough I'd find a place...   

Your guess is as good as mine.

The second park, located in Newport, had no sign, and it was dark enough now that I could get in there. After about 200 feet along the road, I saw a good opportunity and entered just across from a church.

I tromped around going as far as I could into the woods. The ground was really soft and squishy, on the swampy side, but at least it was leafy. I set the tent up for possible rain and planned to remove the green tarp from under to clip on top if necessary...

There was a path just above running along the road. I was hoping no early morning joggers would see me. I climbed in the tent and fell asleep.