12/26/04
Reef Of The Straits


I had this bit of a dream a couple of days ago and forgot to take it down.

All I remember is I was looking at my big foldout map of Mackinac Island, in the back of my book Pre-Historic Mackinac Island by George M. Stanley, Ph.D. I think I was in my room. The map was different though, and even though I was unfolding it, it seemed a lot smaller at some point. The real map is a topographical one with lots of detailed terrain but this one was much simpler and not topographical. There were also not as many sites marked off on it, just a few.

As I perused it I noticed a little thing labeled just offshore from British Landing and peered at it more closely. Here it said simply, "Living Coral Reef." o_O

"Coral reef...?" I wondered. There was a living coral reef off Mackinac Island? I puzzled over this and then thought, "Yeah, that little thingie marked just offshore...that would be the reef." For I had a dream memory of having seen a little scribble or something in the water in that area (on the map), and that must have depicted the coral reef. Interesting.

I never seemed to really think of the oddity of a coral reef in Lake Huron of all places, except right at first when it puzzled me. Then it seemed normal. *shrug* At that moment I realized there was another map on the back of this one (I think--either that or just another separate map), and decided to look at that, either to find more information on the reef or just to see what other locations it had on it. So I either turned this map over or fetched the other one and looked at it with some anticipation.

I was somewhat disappointed to find that the map here quickly switched to a sort of overhead layout of the area of Fort Mackinac and a park nearby or something (I remember seeing wooden barricade walls, not the limestone ones of the fort, and a big grassy area inside; there were a few trees and I think there was a view of the water). This was not actually a map of the island but just a little "map" of the fort and the area around it. I think at first it was just in one or two colors of ink (blue included), but then it might have been a picture because as I said I remember grass and water. I was no longer very interested and so I stopped looking at it.




Derburypark.org


This is relatively weird, if also rather prosaic. O_o I'll just try to go over what I remember since it was part of a bigger dream.

Basically I was with my...Grandma H. (my dad's mother), and we were in a school, at a computer, with Dianne B. (classmate), and Grandma was showing me how to use this website!! GRANDMA H.?? She doesn't even HAVE a computer--probably doesn't even know how to use a VCR! Yet in my dream she was adept enough, and was even teaching ME!

The lights in the room didn't seem to be on. It was kind of dim. I think we were nearer the back of the room and near a wall in front of us, huddled at this computer, and Grandma was showing me how this particular site worked. It was some sort of Parks Commission or something site--you know, like DNR or national parks--I can't quite think of the terms. It had information on the prehistoric geological state of the region thousands of years ago--lake levels, terrain, topography, etc. And it had topographical map images of certain areas in northern Michigan. As soon as Grandma started explaining this I grew very interested. (Dianne was just kind of there oohing and ahhing along with me, but not doing much else.)

"What's this site called?" I asked Grandma; I peered at the browser, but it was set so that the address bar didn't show. But then a moment later I guess it was showing, because I saw the URL. It looked to be www.derbunypark.org, and I think that's what Grandma called it, but then I squinted and looked closer and no, the N looked like an R--www.derburypark.org. (I THINK that's what the URL was; I might be off. I know it ended with "park," and then had ".org," as Grandma was talking and said, "Dot-Org" when that showed up.)

Grandma brought up a screen showing the different map regions available, and said, "You'd probably do best looking at the UP" (Upper Peninsula of Michigan), because that had the most extensive set of maps available. But there were also maps for the Straits area and the northern Lower Peninsula; just not as many.

I was not incredibly interested in the UP :/ , but I thought, maybe I could grow to be, in time. I wondered if they had any for Mackinac Island! But I did not see any for that area. (It was showing a map of the region, and I think there were red square outlines around areas where maps were available; none in the Mackinac area.) :/ There were some names on the map and I think they were of prehistoric/ancient sites, and the one I remember specifically was "Nipissing."

Nipissing! That was the name of the prehistoric Great Lake that Mackinac Island rested in! (Now Lake Huron.) Perhaps, even if I could not find information on Mackinac Island in specific, I might at least find some interesting info on Lake Nipissing and the area. This thing on the map was not LAKE Nipissing, just a site called "Nipissing," but it was close enough for me, and my interest was piqued.

"Let's do Nipissing," I suggested, and I said the name exactly as I pronounce it in my head, "NIH-pih-sing." Then I worried that I had mispronounced it since, I really have no idea HOW it's actually pronounced--and the way I say it sounds a lot like a bodily function! >_< Grandma didn't say anything though, and clicked on "Nipissing." And...hm. That seems to be all I can specifically remember of that part of the dream! Go figure. :/

But I do recall a further part with me having to leave for my next class. I think Dianne was leaving too and she left promptly, but I suddenly had ALL SORTS of stuff on and under my desk to take with me--frustrating! (This is a recurring theme of mine, having to leave--for a class or to get on the bus--and having to gather up a LOT of stuff to take with me--and then usually running late. But I have not had this theme show up in a long time!) I had a bunch of books on top of the desk--then some under it. I can't remember the specifics by now but I remember picking up at least two books stacked atop each other, maybe with another item like a folder, from under my desk, seeing one of these books (a thick, light-colored hardcover), and thinking, "Why did I even BRING this book--? I've already got enough books! And I didn't even have any time to read! I should leave these behind since I'm not using them. But--I have to bring them with me. Well, okay, but I'm not going to bring them BACK to class with me again! How stupid was I!" I felt very stupid for having brought so many books to class when I had no time to look at them all, and they were going to be so heavy in my bookbag, if I could even FIT them in it! I think I could not fit them in. :( I believe I ended up stuffing as much as I could in my bag (it seemed to be the black one with the faux leather handles that I used in high school), and then carrying a bunch of other stuff in both of my hands, looking very disorganized and flustered as I finally left the classroom and worried that I would be late for my next class!

Real-life associations: Just hours before having this dream I had gone to visit my Grandma H. with Ma and Dad, for Christmas. I do not visit my other grandma because the family on that side is huge and there is never anywhere to sit and they never show any interest in me aside from the same few questions, then total ignoring. Why bother going? I do not even see the point of visiting Grandma H. (she usually has only her boyfriend and other son present) because I do not see the point of visiting with somebody just so they can ask how you are doing, and then that's it. But I seem to be the only one who feels like this. :/ We stayed there longer than I thought we would and ended up eating, which I had not planned to do, since I had already eaten that morning! And Grandma and her boyfriend asked if I had lost weight (um, no, I've GAINED a lot though!), and tried to ply me with more food. (When I said I had one major meal a day, and then primarily snacks, they acted as if that was too little to eat--never mind that my major meal is usually more than one serving, and my snacks consist of CHOCOLATE! I overeat EVERY DAY!) I do recall thinking for some reason, at some point, about Grandma having a computer, then brushing off such a goofy thought since she would not know how to use it OR the Internet! So my once-yearly visit with her must have prompted her appearance in my dream, and my thought about Grandma using the Internet probably had some bearing on it too.

Nipissing and the topographical maps were probably influenced by my ongoing interest in Mackinac Island. Dianne and school are two things that show up in my dreams repeatedly; I assume the school environment has to do with me "still learning" and also feeling as if I have never grown up, though Dianne's frequent appearances continue to puzzle me. (She usually plays a sort of "Shadow" role, just remaining in the background while I do all the interacting, though our personalities seem too similar for her to really be my Shadow. We were a lot alike. :/ ) The most perplexing aspect, though, was the "Derburypark.org" domain name. It's the sort of specific detail I don't usually remember from dreams, and I made sure to write it down immediately after awakening (though as I said, the "...urypark.org" part is the only part I'm ABSOLUTELY sure about; the rest is maybe 60-70% sure). "Derbuny Park" or "Derbury Park"? I have no clue what that could be. I've never heard of it. There is no such thing as Derbuny or Derbury Park on Mackinac Island, that I know of, nor in the area. I'll have to look it up online just in case. Even in the dream it was an odd URL because this was a more wide-ranging site, covering the entire region if not the state and more, and the name was so specific sounding that it didn't seem right. *shrug* Not sure how much sense I've made. I focused particularly on the changing of the N to an R (the two letters do resemble each other, in lowercase), and on the ".org" ending.

[Note: I Googled "Derbuny," "Derbury," and a few variants--no such place-name exists.]



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