I was reading an article yesterday on Engadget on the extraordinary planes that have come out of Lockheed-Martin’s Skunkworks at Area 51. The thing about the USAF is that you think you know all the kit they have and then they lift the covers a little and reveal even more amazing UFO like objects. For instance there’s the SR-71 Blackbird, a seriously speedy spy plane designed to fly higher and faster than Soviet SAM batteries. Now I read that there was the Oxcart too which must have come between the U2 and the Blackbird. It's the B2 Stealth bomber which I think has an amazing beauty. Yes it's a lethal weapon, a remarkable, hidden, fast nuclear bomber with a humongous range. It's a testament to its capabilities that it's intended to stay in service until 2058. It's probably a testament to its cost too. The B-52, that lumbering Cold War and Vietnam War era very heavy bomber has now seen active service for 50 years with more to come, but looking at it is like looking at a Galaxy heavy lift craft compared to Concorde, which incidentally had its maiden flight 40 years ago yesterday.
The B2 then is the bee’s knees. The B1b is pretty cool too but I'm unclear as to how stealthy it is. I do know that British army had one on call when they had (nominal) control of Basra. It's stealth or lack therof would have been a moot point during the occupation.
I dreamt I was in a B2 last night. That’s not strictly true. I dreamt that I was in a next generation Airbus mostly made of glass with forward facing 4K tv screens. While we were flying the pilot decided to show us the nosecone camera view of a B2 on a daytime conventional bombing raid. We started high above the clouds, swooped through a column of rising grey smoke from the impact of a bomb ahead and then lined up for our pass. I could feel the change in altitude, the g force effect of dropping as if going over a humpback bridge, which is incidentally what it is like to become weightless in space. Space sickness is a thing and astronauts throw up a lot. The quality of the screen was such that though the image looked real as I was up close I could see the pixels. As we finally lined up my father said he felt faint.
Terrifying in a thunderstorm
At this point I should say that I have very vivid dreams. They are in colour with Dolby surround and on occasion I can control them, which makes them lucid. I have recurring dream landscapes that I return to from time to time. I call them dreamscapes as they only exist in my mind. My dreams are sometimes prescient, I've had déjà vu from dreams more times than I can remember. In the real world I can sometimes feel bad energy… Since my father died I've communicated with him many times whilst dreaming. True, some of the conversations we had were conversations I wanted to have, but some were not. Sometimes we just get in his car and go out and do things. He does tend to pop up nowadays at important moments in my life, as a steadying hand. I was very close to him, and I once shared a dream with him. It was a hot summer’s day and I thought a sleep in the shade on the lawn would be a good idea. He thought so too and so we both lay on our backs next to each other and dozed off. I was 31 I think. We both woke at the same moment, both dreaming that the phone was ringing. But it wasn't. We were outside, out of earshot of the phone. There was a connection between us which has continued now that he's no longer around in a physical form.
Yesterday something very good happened in my life, and it was reflected in the exuberance of my dreaming. I had a restless night but in the quiet hours of dawn I managed two solid hours of brilliant REM sleep. It was all quickfire. I lost my wallet in India but it was found covered in curry on the floor. I was then in a familiar dreamscape loosely based on the Underground. This is a warm earthy dimly lit but unthreatening Underground where the walls, tunnels and vaults are made of reddish brown Victorian bricks. It probably looks a bit like London’s sewer system. There are trains down there (District line) but there are cubby holes in the tunnels to stand in when they go past. I was there to see my friend Lucy’s underground garden. Next I was walking through Tokyo with Betsey saying how wonderful a new presence in my life is and Betsey was agreeing. And finally I was on this future plane and my father felt ill. I had to ask the stewardess if there was a doctor on board. Then my alarm went off.
Of the many reasons that I like dreaming about my father one of the most significant is that I feel whole again. Life feels right, as it was in the beginning so to speak. I'm very fortunate to be able to experience his life and love in this manner. It's one of the reasons I now have no fear of death for there is, for me, an afterlife unconnected to organised religion.
Happy sunrise
And what of the dreams? I had curry for dinner hence the wallet marinated in a curry sauce. I found myself in a dreamscape because I was relaxed and explorative. I dreamt of my father because he brings great comfort and love to me.
And the flying? That’s a classic. Flying dreams for me denote supreme overwhelming happiness.
I woke with my arms above my head as a happy baby sleeps.
