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Friday, February 12, 2021

The one with a coke trench coat

I dreamed that our family was going on a cruise. While packing for the trip, I decided to bring some snacks with me just in case the ship didn't have what I liked or in case I wanted some snacks during an excursion.

I looked in the pantry and found that I had 12 glass bottles of cherry vanilla coke zero. That is one of my favorite sodas so I thought it would be a great thing to bring along. At first I thought I would only bring a couple with me, but then I realized that I would be sad if I ran out during the trip. I also thought that if I started drinking one that probably somebody else in my family would want one too, and I didn't want to not have enough for everyone, so I decided to bring all of them just in case.

I was concerned that the ship would not let me on with a bunch of my own food, so I determined to sneak it aboard. I found a trench coat and sewed large pockets on the inside that could each hold one bottle of coke. I only had enough space in the trench coat for ten pockets, so I put the last two bottles in the duffel bag that held my clothes. My plan worked flawlessly. Wearing my trench coat filled with coke bottles I was able to smuggle all the coke on-board without raising any suspicions. 

Once we were on the ship, it occurred to me that I never knew when I might want a bottle of coke. And if there were family members around at the time they might also want one. So I wore my coke trench coat everywhere around the ship. It was heavy and uncomfortable, but I told myself that it would be worth it to always have the coke available. I even wore it to bed and slept in it. That turned out to be particularly painful one night when we hit some rough water and I was thrown out of bed and on to the floor, landing on the hard glass bottles. I also didn't want to be on an excursion and find myself wanting a coke and not having one, so I wore it on all the excursions. One of the excursions was to an amusement park and I wore the trench coat while walking around the park and on all the roller coasters.

Finally, the cruise came to an end and it was time to head home. I never drank a single bottle of coke during the cruise, so I wore my coke trench coat and carried the two extra bottles in by duffel bag as we got on a bus headed to the airport. During the ride, I was really getting hot and uncomfortable so I finally took off the trench coat and stuffed it inside my duffel bag. 

As we entered the terminal I realized that airport security would not allow me through with so much liquid. But I didn't dare put all the glass coke bottles in a checked bag because they would break for sure. I couldn't bear to just throw it all away! I decided that the best option was to just drink it all before we got to security. We entered a small airport cafeteria and found an open table. I put my duffel bag on the table and explained the situation to my family. Most of them were excited to have a coke. 

When I unzipped the duffel bag, to my dismay I could see that my clothes were soaked with coke. I pulled out my trench coat and surveyed the damage. Fortunately, only two of the glass bottles had broken and the other ten were OK. I passed out the surviving bottles and we all enjoyed a nice drink of cherry vanilla coke zero.

Dreamed on Feb 8, 2021

Thursday, February 4, 2021

Always Look for the Good in Others

Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky's biography, written by his brother Modest, says this of their father Ilya Petrovich Tchaikovsky:

He was a "sympathetic, jovial, and straight-forward character, with an affection for everyone he met. In youth, manhood, and old age, he loved his neighbor, and his faith in him remained unshaken. His truthfulness and trustfulness knew no limits. To the end of his days, everyone he met was an excellent, honorable, good fellow. It would be hard to find another man possessed of so many devoted friends."

This seems like an excellent example of someone who followed the admonition to "love thy neighbor as thyself" (Matt 22:39). This is a good goal to strive for - to be less cynical and distrustful, and to instead be more forgiving and kind. In essence, to always look for the good in others and give them the benefit of the doubt. Particularly when first meeting others.

Source: Great Masters: Tchaikovsky His Life and Music