Eyes of a Blue Dog, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Then she looked at me. I thought that she was looking at me for the first time. But then, when she turned around behind the lamp and I kept feeling her slippery and oily look in back of me, over my shoulder, I understood that it was I who was looking at her for the first time. I lit a cigarette. I took a drag on the harsh, strong smoke, before spinning in the chair, balancing on one of the rear legs. After that I saw her there, as if she'd been standing beside the lamp looking at me every night. For a few brief minutes that's all we did: look at each other. I looked from the chair, balancing on one of the rear legs. She stood, with a long and quiet hand on the lamp, looking at me. I saw her eyelids lighted up as on every night. It was then that I remembered the usual thing, when I said to her: 'Eyes of a blue dog.' Without taking her hand off the lamp she said to me: 'That. We'll never forget that.' She left the orbit, sighing: 'Eyes of a blue dog. I've written it everywhere.'

I read this story about a man and woman who meet only in their dreams and have a code phrase to recognize each other in their waking lives for the first time approximately 20 years ago. And I am still astonished by it.

I've been blessed my entire life with interesting, full-blown Technicolor dreams. They are a part of my life I've always enjoyed immensely.

Check out the Jung Podcast series by John D. Betts, Jungian Analyst. Here's a link to Dreams: Episode 1 introducing a Jungian approach to dream interpretation. There are three episodes total on dreams. I've found the full series to be a very informative introduction to Jungian analysis.

My 7th grade daughter just started what I think is going to be a fabulous college preparatory middle school for her, and I was delighted yesterday when her Literature teacher told me that the kids are currently studying symbolism in literature and taking their time to understand it and absorb what that means as the instructor thinks symbolism in literature immensely important. Whoa. Now how cool is that? My kid and I had a very thoughtful conversation about the "anima" and "animus" the other day...

Jack Bauer and I agree we would have each given our right arm for that kind of school experience. We both went to public school. My dad was the first out of his family to go to college. Jack's mom the first in hers, and graduated well into her fifties. You just keep on lifting your kids and the generations beyond you up on your shoulders. Now that's America.

Back to the dreams, I don't think I'll ever see a blue heeler in the same light again after Gabriel Garcia Marquez.