Meet the Parents

Early this morning I dreamed that I was making a trip to Florida to visit my boyfriend's parents. (In real life, I've met them several times, but never visited their house in FL.)

We arrived in their house, which was laid out in a very 1970s ranch style, though decorated in a more contemporary style. I was being my usual shy self, wanting to hole up in the bedroom, pretending to put away my clothes and other things. Brett convinced me to emerge and to go for a walk outside. It turned out that they lived in an isolated area, with only a few other houses. They also had a live-in Asian housekeeper in her 20s, who, among other things, was responsible for filling the hummingbird feeders hanging by the kitchen windows. She was very nice, but I remember wondering what she did for fun.

We poked around in the foliage. Brett showed me some flowers and some really tall grasses. There was a big weeping willow tree at some point.

Wandering outside, we walked toward an old barn-type structure, which turned out to be an old-fashioned schoolhouse, which was in session. The teacher and students were all wearing 1800s-type clothes; the teacher was even wearing one of those frilly edged caps and a white apron over her long dress. We peered in the door, and she gave us a hard look so we moved on. I wondered if this was for real, or if it was some kind of reenactment.

As we walked away from the school, two big dogs came up to us. I was afraid of them, but in a loud, strong voice, I said, "Go on, get away!" and snapped my fingers very loudly, pointing toward the schoolhouse. They immediately obeyed and walked away.

Back in Brett's parents' house, his mother was talking on the phone, but she was covered up in a blue blanket because she was cold. I thought this was strange in south Florida.