Dreaming of irises...

This is not a new thing, to those who know I have the Iris Virus.  There are a few autumn blooms out there right this minute, because our weather is so mild this time of year, and the Rebloomers (those that sometimes bloom twice a year) planted last spring are having their first chance to shine.

These aren't the rebloomers--just an old photo from last spring.  :~D

But this time, I was not dreaming of iris here at our house, or even of the iris beds I'll create when I take them to Arizona with us.  Last night I had a strange dream...Al Pacino figured heavily, but that was a different part of the dream which we will ignore for the now.  To the point: there was a Rest Home across the street from where I sat drinking coffee.  I have no idea where the coffee place was--you know odd and nebulous dreams can be--but some old people who lived in the home sat around a small courtyard in front of their place.  They were surrounded by a few scraggly iris trying to bloom, struggling in dismally neglected beds empty of little but dirt and wind-blown debris.

In my dream, I was suddenly overjoyed because I knew this was the way to fulfill a longing I've had--to volunteer my gardening skills!  Not to the local Master Gardener Program, where my hours are logged and credit duly charted in return for "certification".  I don't want my hours charted--I want to make a difference for real people!  In the dream, it was clear: I would take care of the Rest Home gardens, make them bloom again for those old people who could not do it themselves.

Those who know me well know that I have very frequent and vivid dreams.  The husband is often entertained by my morning tales of bizarre nocturnal adventures, and I have them so often we just chalk it up to Jan's Weirditude.  But once in a while, I dream of something that simply will not leave me, and I think about it all day, realizing this one was not a case of taking out the mental trash, but instead a message I should listen to.

This dream of the old people's garden was just such a dream, and I am in tears over how happy it makes me.  The town we're moving to, Chino Valley, AZ, has a very large population of elders, with a disproportionate number of elder homes for its size (only 10K population) and a facility for special needs residents as well.  I know now where I can plant--and share--some of my abundant iris blessings.

I hope your week is going well, and at least one of your dreams come true.