School Dreams

Raise your hand if you ever had a bad dream about school. Probably easier to count if only those who haven't raised their hands. Various flavors... of course you have your "forgot to wear your pants to school" dream. Your "can't find the building where the final exam is held" dream. The "teeth falling out" dream may or may not be applicable to back-to-school time. I do believe that I had one of those in a school context. Regardless of the dreamscape, it is undeniable that this time of year carries a stronger sense of "new year" than January 1st ever could. Personally speaking, this is my psychological gateway to "soup season". It's not just families that have this sense of seasonal punctuation... I believe everyone has wired into his/her DNA a sense of, well, if not impending doom, then fretful anticipation of change and newness this time of year. For those with kids or grandkids, it is an especially touching time, an opportune revisitation of one's own youth, a refreshing vista of the simplicity, the limitless possibilities of youth.