The dream I had this morning before awaking was of fierce competition over a Scrabble game with Linda Partlow. I don't remember ever playing Scrabble with Linda. Her parents and mine had regular games, but if Linda is a Scrabble player, I'm not aware of it; if she and I ever played Scrabble, I've totally forgotten it. The dream game was a close game, but I won, and she was not a gracious loser. I immediately felt guilty for beating her, but then reminded myself how many times she'd beat me on the tennis court, the ping-pong table, anything athletic. She finally congratulated me, but I could tell it was hard for her to do, she was seriously disappointed in the final score. I proposed a second game, a best 2 out of 3, but she declined. We were in the pavilion at Cecil's Park, where I doubt that Scrabble ever was played, and she left with a tennis racquet in her hand headed to the tennis court. It was an awkward moment, I was really hoping for a rematch. The few spectators of our Scrabble game left me sitting alone and joined her large entourage of fans and supporters. Everyone wanted to watch her play tennis, no one was interested in a Scrabble game. And that's how it ended, with her walking toward that old clay tennis court at Cecil's Park, determined to conquer the next challenge.

It's been 18 years since I studied dreams and their symbolism, but there is a workshop scheduled at St. Philip's in April, which I plan to take. I believe God still communicates to us through our dreams just as he did with the Biblical characters of old. Most of the people in our dreams represent some aspect of ourselves. I cannot imagine what part of me LP might depict... the youthful, skinny me? the Plantersville girl? the sore loser? Too much stuff in there to tackle on a Sunday afternoon when all I want to do is nap.

The song that came to me when I tried to recall the dream's details was, "Let's get physical...physical... I wanna get physical..." It was probably just a reminder that I need to exercise more, you know, get off your duff stuff. I think physical may have been the winning word I played which made 56 points and put me ahead of her. If I did as much physical exercise as mental, I'd be in much better shape. She's been in my thoughts and prayers for the last couple of weeks, so it's probably not unusual that she showed up in a dream.

She's out of the hospital now and recuperating at Cindy's house, according to the latest news we got, this time from Linda herself. Ain't God good! I'm sure George will have it posted on the Plantersville Connection soon.

Congratulations, Linda! Hope you are fully recovered real soon!