Elephant in the Lake

Last night I dreamed a rather complicated and convolunted story that may not make complete sense here (it sure didn't last night). I was playing a character in this dream: a man who had a best friend. These two friends had possibly the most tragic lives of anyone outside of a Victorian melodrama. My character had a lovely wife, who eventually died. His best friend, however, had a much more tragic existence. He also had a lovely wife, with a lovely child. The child died early in the dream. This couple had also bought and restored a vintage hotel that was located on the shores of a large, picturesque lake (something like a fjord). At some point in the dream, my character visited the hotel in its finished state. My friends had apparently dredged out of the fjord a cement elephant that had originally belonged to the hotel, reinstalled it in the courtyard, and painted it blue. Other parts of the vintage hotel had also been restored, including a cave tour (apparently the hotel was built on an outcropping of limestone, which lends itself well to cave formation). In the cave, inexplicably, was the advancing edge of a glacier. My friend's wife blithely climbed up to touch it, showing me how easy it was, but I remained reluctant. It seemed to be tempting fate to touch a glacier.

At some point in the dream, I visited my friend on a wine-making commune, where he and his family were staying and working. I got a tour of the winery, the vineyards, and this blissful meadow, where (I swear this is true) children were frolicking in the flowers. There were some heartbreakingly beautiful blue flowers in the meadow and I remember thinking that it was all too good to be true.

Sure enough, I later heard that my friend and his child had died of cholera (??), leaving his wife alone at the resort hotel. I immediately went to visit her (my wife was also dead by this time). On my visit, it became clear that she was planning to kill herself, as she had nothing left to live for. She passed on to me her dead husband's identity, though, providing me a way to start over (from what, I'm not sure). She gave me his ID card, and told me that I could take over the hotel and give myself a fresh start. I was sad that she was going to die, but I understood her position. After all, I had lost my family too.