WhipPoorWill of Bliss
Apr. 23rd, 2023 09:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ismoI had one of my end of the world dreams, which hasn't happened for awhile. The oceans were rising and would soon destroy everything. As a science fiction writer, I should have asked where all that water came from, but it seemed to be a given. At the beginning, we were in a sort of combination mall and convention center, the kind of place I've been in often for cons. From the big plate glass windows, you could see the water rising all over the city. The place was fairly deserted. Everything had more or less come to a stop. But there were still people working at their counters and whatnot. I wondered why. In fact, I was going to buy something to eat, but then realized that money was meaningless, so why pay. And why eat, for that matter. We'd all be dead within days. There was a whiteboard still advertising one of the panels at a historical meeting, on the subject of "Socialism and Inherited Wealth." That won't be a problem any more, I thought. Shortly after this, I woke up and was awake for quite awhile, but finally went back to sleep.
Oddly, I continued to dream the same dream. By this time, we had moved on to a hotel much higher up in the mountains. The water had covered almost everything by then. I have never seen such waves--vast, dark, confused and clashing against each other, as if moved by tremors from deep in the abyss. Rafts of stone floated on the surface, and I realized that there must have been massive undersea volcanic eruptions to produce that much pumice. Soon the waves would rise high enough to crush the building we were in, possibly the last human survivors on earth, and that would be the end. It was a dark, dark night at the end of the world, for sure.
We had a much nicer morning. We finally made our excursion to the botanical gardens to see the butterfly exhibit. Every spring in the conservatory, they raise and let loose tropical butterflies of all kinds. They had members-only hours from 9 to 11, and this is the best time to visit because it gets pretty crowded in there. It's a popular event. The big blue morphos were out in force, as well as many others, and it was quite magical. The fact that it was a cold day made the steamy warmth among the towering banana trees and palms more of a contrast. After that, we walked over to the Japanese garden and visited the cherry trees, which were just at their peak. The sky was full of dramatic, rolling clouds, with occasional beams of sunlight piercing through to illuminate the perfect white of the cherry blossoms. They are like Easter angels, pure light alighting on the dark branches. We've had one more spring before the end of the world! Every one I get at this point is gravy. . . . though A.E. Housman put it much more poetically.
Oddly, I continued to dream the same dream. By this time, we had moved on to a hotel much higher up in the mountains. The water had covered almost everything by then. I have never seen such waves--vast, dark, confused and clashing against each other, as if moved by tremors from deep in the abyss. Rafts of stone floated on the surface, and I realized that there must have been massive undersea volcanic eruptions to produce that much pumice. Soon the waves would rise high enough to crush the building we were in, possibly the last human survivors on earth, and that would be the end. It was a dark, dark night at the end of the world, for sure.
We had a much nicer morning. We finally made our excursion to the botanical gardens to see the butterfly exhibit. Every spring in the conservatory, they raise and let loose tropical butterflies of all kinds. They had members-only hours from 9 to 11, and this is the best time to visit because it gets pretty crowded in there. It's a popular event. The big blue morphos were out in force, as well as many others, and it was quite magical. The fact that it was a cold day made the steamy warmth among the towering banana trees and palms more of a contrast. After that, we walked over to the Japanese garden and visited the cherry trees, which were just at their peak. The sky was full of dramatic, rolling clouds, with occasional beams of sunlight piercing through to illuminate the perfect white of the cherry blossoms. They are like Easter angels, pure light alighting on the dark branches. We've had one more spring before the end of the world! Every one I get at this point is gravy. . . . though A.E. Housman put it much more poetically.
what could be more poetic than gravy?
Date: 2023-04-24 08:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-04-24 12:48 pm (UTC)