Peaceful Paradise

I’m in some sort of ?resort. It’s very nice. Lot’s of wood and stone and water. A kind of Zen retreat or monastary-like place maybe. Learning center? I and a few other people (i don’t know who they are now and i’m not certain that i knew them in the dream either) have been invited to a private concert by two different bands. One band is more piano oriented and kind of jazzy. The other band is drum and pipe oriented and the musicians are Indians (the North America kind). There’s a woman that is running the event. She has shortish dark hair and is pretty in an old fashioned kind of way. The event, for being “invitation only” is very informal. The bands are set up in the middle of a large carpeted room. It might be a library. There are shelves lining the outer wall shelves at 90 degree angles to each other. Sculpture and other art works are placed throughout the room. It’s nice. I sit on the carpet right in front of the “stage” but it’s not really a stage – it’s just the space that band needs. The organizer explains that each band will play a shortened version of a song and if we like it they will play the full version. The bands will take turns.

The piano band starts with the short version of their song. It’s very good and our applause signals to them that they should play the full length version and they do. It’s very “tinkly” with piano. There is a piano player, a keyboard player, a bass player, a drummer and, the only female in the band, playing a wind instrument – it might be a flute but i don’t remember now. When the piano band finishes, it’s the drum bands turn. They start with a shortened version of a song and by our applause at the end, play the full length version. Their music is very organic. Quiet drums and wooden flutes or pipes. South American sounding. The musicians are all women and dressed in native dress. It looks like Apache to me.

After the drum band finishes, all of the audience can mill around with the band people and chat. I’m drawn to the leader of the Indian band. She’s a dark-skinned woman and looks to be my age (late forties, early fifties). I ask her “Which Tribe are you from” and she says “Navaho” and the event coordinator lady gets our attention and says “It’s time for the second act” so the band members reassemble and the audience members find places to sit. For this part of the concert i decide i want to sit on the balcony that runs around the room that i hadn’t noticed before. There are marble steps that lead up to that level and i decide that i like sitting on the steps so i do. The piano band is going to start with a short number to be followed by the full version if we like the song. I suggest to the event coordinator that maybe the bands could just play their full versions because we’re sure to like what they play. She agrees and the piano band starts with their full version.

The dream morphs and i’m in the same place but in my room. The room is like the rest of the place with lots of wood and light. There’s a small dresser in the middle of the room and, curious, i open the bottom drawer. It’s full of tiny little black birds. At rest they're about the size of a ping pong ball. When they fly they aren't much larger because their wings aren't very long. Cute as hell. A few of them fly out and are flittering around the room. There’s a window to the outside up near the ceiling sort of like a transom. I shoe some of the birds out the open window but realize that i won’t be able to get all of them out that way. I find an aluminum pie pan and lay it over the drawer to trap the other birds inside and carry the covered drawer out of my room and down a short hall to what appears to be the restaurant. It’s the same carpet that was in the concert room. A dark green-blue color like water. I see the waiters in their formal black tie suits and wonder if maybe i shouldn’t be there because i’m not dressed fancy. The restaurant is open air though and i walk down a short stair case. In the center of the restaurant is a calm blue water pool. It looks like a natural lake but i can’t see where it originates so maybe it’s just a deep cement pond. I go to the edge of the water and can see little flashes of light from what i think are gold koi fish. Holding up the drawer at head level, i remove the pie pan and give the drawer a little shake to dislodge the little birds. They fly away – a bunch of little black dots in the twilight. I’m hoping that the diners eating their meals don’t mind too much but mostly am happy that the little birds are out and free. I go back to my room and there are still birds flying around the room. I check the middle drawer and top drawer to see if maybe there are more birds. The middle drawer has rows of little birds packed nicely like eggs in a carton except there are a lot more than a dozen. Maybe two dozen. I quickly cover them with the pie pan so they won’t get out inside the room. The top drawer just has regular hotel type stuff in it – a small pad of unlined writing paper, a pen, a sewing kit…. that’s all i remember.

That was a very beautiful place and i hope i get to go visit there again sometime! The sounds and colors, the entire atmosphere of the place was so peaceful. Next time maybe i'll get to eat in the restaurant. It was a large room but the tables were all along the outside perimeter under the eave of the roof because the middle part was all water.