When I was growing up, my parents had a cabin (well, a house really) on the edge of Green Lake (near 100 Mile House) in the interior of BC. We went there once or twice a year, it was quite beautiful. I spent a lot of time exploring the wilderness, catching frogs and snakes, getting bitten by horseflies, playing in the snow or on the frozen lake, finding dead bodies (oh wait that’s Stand By Me) – all the things you are supposed to do as a kid. I’m not sure what happened to the house, as I recall it got sold. I haven’t been to the lake for years and years and years. My grandparents also had a house up there, where they lived year-round, until it burnt down a few years back. I recall being sorry to hear the news but otherwise nonplussed, until some time after that (6 months or so) I had a terrible dream about it and woke up bawling my little eyes out.
Last night I had a dream that I was back at the house at Green Lake, with my brother and parents. I won’t bore you with all the details but towards the end I was going through the storage space and looking at a bunch of my childhood toys, drawings & video cassettes (I actually had no videocassettes as a child, but anyway). My ma was arguing with me about something or other, and I was getting very frustrated and yelling back at her. Finally I looked out the window and, I don’t know whether it was from the argument or the flood of lost childhood memories, but I started sobbing.
When I woke up I was crying. I think my subconscious is telling me that I need to go back to Green Lake. I’m sure it will be different (probably a WalMart, Chapters & Starbucks up there now) but in fact that’s something I’ve been seriously considering for well over a year now. Some day, somehow, I will rent, borrow, or steal a car and go on a road trip to my old haunt.