Report / The Artisan

Friday night

Dream 1: Report

I was in the Oval Office. President Bush asked me and a woman to lead a business task force that would produce a report with recommendations for the economy before the end of his term.

Dream 2: The Artisan

I loved the sound of Irish music played by flutes and recorders, and had come to the realization that their particular beauty came from the crafting of a small pea-shaped object inside them. I decided to seek out an expert in Irish crafts to learn how to make these tiny round pieces by hand, and then the instruments themselves. After discovering someone who could share these skills with me, I went to her studio, and walked down a long hallway that opened out into a very nice circular room with many windows. The artist was directly across from me, sitting in a chair against the wall. She was middle-aged, and was carefully working on a solid round piece of glass that she had made. It was about the size of a softball, and consisted of different colored stripes, each about an inch wide. She was using an extremely sharp knife which resembled the head of an ancient bronze ax; the blade was curved, and the part opposite the blade ended in a point, where it would have been fit into a wooden haft. She was using it to slice through the glass piece, separating the colored sections. I looked over to my right, and saw my boss, Jennie, sitting along that curve in the wall. She knew the instructor well, and by way of introduction, informed me that she (the teacher) was not only well versed in traditional Irish handicrafts, but she also really knew her Irish music. The artist overheard Jennie, and said with a mixture of amusement and sarcasm, "Hooray for Hogwarts" is based on [a traditional Irish song]."

*****

Dream 1: Report

I'm sure I'd have many recommendations for the Bush administration, not that they'd follow them.

Dream 2: The Artisan

"Hooray for Hogwarts"?! The teacher named the title of the song on which this cheer was based, but the title was in Gaelic, and I don't remember it. I was watching the Arts channel the other day, and saw a clip of some guy (who was not James Galway) playing beautiful Irish music on a flute as he stood atop a high green hill. On Friday night we came home from the market and my wife made a wonderful salmon dinner, but we realized that we'd forgotten to get more peppercorns for the grinder. I went back out to get some, and, having never bought whole peppercorns in my life, I studied the bottles carefully. (Who knew that there were so many varieties?) Anyway, the flautist and the peppercorns seem to have merged in my brain to create this dream. The bronze ax head is similar to many fantastic pieces that we saw at the Irish National Museum in Dublin. If you ever get the chance to see it, it's a must.

We were fortunate enough to visit Ireland a few years ago. I have fond memories of listening to Irish radio in the car. We first heard U2's song "Vertigo" while we were there, and every so often we heard the news reported in Gaelic. That was pretty wild.

By the way, after describing this one to my wife, she said, "Ugh. That dream makes me tired."