"Bigger Fish to Fry" (Was: A Very Fishy Dream)
I had a visitation from my Grandpa last night. The first in a long, long time. My dreams often take place on is farm or some amalgam of it, but he and Grandma are rarely in them. It is simply assumed they are in the background, watching over things, just as they did in life. He was as lean and scrappy as a bantam rooster. I could feel his shoulder blades poking out and the contours of his stubbled cheek as I hugged him. I realize as I'm writing this that he and Tiger are almost the exact same build.
Within the narrative of the dream, I was glad to see Grandpa for reasons that had nothing to do with his visitation. I was entirely unaware that he was dead. He just happened to be walking by as I was looking for help from someone with a giant fish I had caught. The fish story comprised most of the beginning of the dream - and a good portion of the end as well.
My grandparents did not have a fishing hole on their property in real life. Though the fertile lowland was criss-crossed by hundreds of creek bottoms, none were big enough or deep enough to hold more than a few minnows - and, the occasional water moccasin (which I frequently heard about but never actually saw with my own eyes - well, except for a dead one once.)
At some point, earlier inn the dream I stumbled up the pond and it was so crystal clear that one could see pretty much to the bottom and I had arrived just in time to witness an active fight to the death between a giant serpent and a huge carp-like fish that seemed to be caught in its jaws. I managed to distract the serpent. I felt sorry for the fish and did something - perhaps poke the snake with the end of a stout tree trunk - until it let the fish go.
The fish was completely lifeless after the struggle and floated down until it was met by a ledge of rock sticking out from the side of the pool's contours. I immediately thought what a waste of a good fish; it would only rot there at the bottom of grandpa's spring and might even affect his well water. So, I tried to fish it out with the same log with which I had fought off its attacker.
The fish immediately sprang back to life (proof that it was still fresh) and tried to get away but I speared it, actually stuck the wooden pole into its mouth. The carp was so greedy that it actually aided me in its own capure by chomping down on the log as it lodged in his mouth.
Once on dry land he lay still, finally subdued. I still was of two minds as to what to do with the body. I knew it would remain fresh food only so long, but I had no experience with gutting and filleting such a large animal. I was looking around for help when I saw Grandpa. I tried physically steering him toward the pond. But, he was not interested in my story or in what might be found by the pond (maybe, because he knew this was only a dream.) He seemed much more interested in giving me a message of some sort.
In real life, Grandpa was almost unintelligible. He was virtually toothless and spoke in an obscure country dialect that not even his own children completely understood. Only his wife could dependably decipher what he was saying on many an occasion. But, last night Grandpa was fairly articulate. He wanted to explain something about the land, about why he wanted it to remain undivided. Some fifty years after his death, it is still, apparently, one of his abiding interests.
Since Grandpa wasn't being much help with the fish, I decided to move on. But, as is common with dreams, I don't think I was ever able to trace my steps back to it. The last thing I remember is coming across a batch of family and friends n a kitchen some where freshly cooked, deeply fried, to the point of burnt, fish. I can only assume it was the same fish I had hauled out of the pond. Someone said that it tasted okay.
"Bigger Fish to Fry" seems to be the almost literal message of this dream. But, bigger than what?
Within the narrative of the dream, I was glad to see Grandpa for reasons that had nothing to do with his visitation. I was entirely unaware that he was dead. He just happened to be walking by as I was looking for help from someone with a giant fish I had caught. The fish story comprised most of the beginning of the dream - and a good portion of the end as well.
My grandparents did not have a fishing hole on their property in real life. Though the fertile lowland was criss-crossed by hundreds of creek bottoms, none were big enough or deep enough to hold more than a few minnows - and, the occasional water moccasin (which I frequently heard about but never actually saw with my own eyes - well, except for a dead one once.)
At some point, earlier inn the dream I stumbled up the pond and it was so crystal clear that one could see pretty much to the bottom and I had arrived just in time to witness an active fight to the death between a giant serpent and a huge carp-like fish that seemed to be caught in its jaws. I managed to distract the serpent. I felt sorry for the fish and did something - perhaps poke the snake with the end of a stout tree trunk - until it let the fish go.
The fish was completely lifeless after the struggle and floated down until it was met by a ledge of rock sticking out from the side of the pool's contours. I immediately thought what a waste of a good fish; it would only rot there at the bottom of grandpa's spring and might even affect his well water. So, I tried to fish it out with the same log with which I had fought off its attacker.
The fish immediately sprang back to life (proof that it was still fresh) and tried to get away but I speared it, actually stuck the wooden pole into its mouth. The carp was so greedy that it actually aided me in its own capure by chomping down on the log as it lodged in his mouth.
Once on dry land he lay still, finally subdued. I still was of two minds as to what to do with the body. I knew it would remain fresh food only so long, but I had no experience with gutting and filleting such a large animal. I was looking around for help when I saw Grandpa. I tried physically steering him toward the pond. But, he was not interested in my story or in what might be found by the pond (maybe, because he knew this was only a dream.) He seemed much more interested in giving me a message of some sort.
In real life, Grandpa was almost unintelligible. He was virtually toothless and spoke in an obscure country dialect that not even his own children completely understood. Only his wife could dependably decipher what he was saying on many an occasion. But, last night Grandpa was fairly articulate. He wanted to explain something about the land, about why he wanted it to remain undivided. Some fifty years after his death, it is still, apparently, one of his abiding interests.
Since Grandpa wasn't being much help with the fish, I decided to move on. But, as is common with dreams, I don't think I was ever able to trace my steps back to it. The last thing I remember is coming across a batch of family and friends n a kitchen some where freshly cooked, deeply fried, to the point of burnt, fish. I can only assume it was the same fish I had hauled out of the pond. Someone said that it tasted okay.
"Bigger Fish to Fry" seems to be the almost literal message of this dream. But, bigger than what?