A Dream from Beyond (2)

The next day, I called my mom. “Do you remember me walking into the pond and grandpa rescuing me?” “My God! Who told you about that?” “You mean, it really happened?” “Yes, but your father and I never told you about it because grandma swore us to silence. Even though it wasn’t her fault, she felt that she had failed in her responsibility, and never wanted you to know about it. My goodness, that was so long ago. Who told you this?” “Mom, did I go for a walk with grandpa and return with daisies for you and grandma?” “Okay, I get it. You and your dad are playing some kind of prank. Okay, it’s very funny. Now, quit it.” “This is no prank, mom. Grandpa told me this in a dream last night.” “It still sounds like a prank.” “No, I’m serious. He told me that grandma had a reaction to blackberries. He said I was wearing brown and white Buster Brown shoes. He said I gave you and grandma daisies.” “Oh, my God. Your father would never remember all this. It must be Daddy! Did he say anything about visiting his gravesite?” “Yes, that was his problem. He wanted me to visit them. He also said you had not visited since—” “—Since mom’s birthday six years ago?” “Well, not—” “I’ve got to get over there right now!” “Wait for me! I’m coming with you, and I’ve got to bring those daisies. Maybe we’d better start going every year, huh, mom?” “Yes. There’s no telling what grandpa might tell you next time.”

A Dream from Beyond (1)

since October 4 (grandma’s birthday). He told me that, when I was young, I had walked out into a pond and slipped under water. He had rescued me. He said grandma was supposed to be watching me, but that she had gotten sick all of a sudden and was throwing up. It was probably the fresh blackberries they had picked and eaten earlier. Grandma had a bad stomach.

My parents were out on a boat in the pond. They did not know that grandpa had saved me until they got back to shore. I was in a towel and my clothes were drying on bushes. My brown and white Buster Brown shoes were also soaked. I was only three years old, grandpa said. My parents were angry at first, but when they saw that grandma was still feeling sick, they forgave her.

Grandpa told me that we had a picnic after that. The four of us ate some chicken, potato salad, and homemade cookies. We drank lemonade. Then grandpa took me for a walk in the woods (I sat on his shoulders). I saw some daisies, and we picked them. When we returned, I presented three daisies to mom and three to grandma, who was finally feeling better. Grandpa said to bring some daisies to the gravesite. Then I woke up.

A Daytime Robbery

Rod was a manager at House Depot. He worked about 50 hours a week. He loved his job, although the extra hours cut into the time he could spend with his three little girls. One morning he was supposed to go home at 7 a.m. Instead, he stayed on to help out for three more hours. He was just about to leave at 10 a.m. when he heard something. At one of the checkout counters, he saw a man dressed in white painter’s coveralls pointing a gun at the female checker. He had on a yellow cap, a white plastic painter’s mask, and white gloves. Rod hurried over. Times in Los Angeles had changed. All managers now received training on how to respond to armed robberies and hostage-taking. Rod was nervous, but he knew what he was supposed to do. He approached the gunman. “Sir, please don’t point that gun. We will give you all the money you—” The gunman didn’t even wait for Rod to finish his sentence. He shot Rod in the stomach. The checker screamed. The gunman ran out to a white van and hopped in. The van sped off. Rod didn't even make it to surgery. The killing made all the TV news shows. House Depot offered a $100,000 reward.

A Cleaner River (2)

The three brothers went out on the river almost every day, weather permitting. They tied some rowboats behind their boat to use as floating trash cans. They picked up all the trash they could see floating in the river. Friends joined them. Then friends told other friends, and by the end of the first year there were more than 200 volunteers helping the Green Fleet clean up the river. In the first 365 days, the brothers estimated that they had removed more than 10 tons of trash from the river. Their work was creating a cleaner-looking and cleaner-smelling river. Corporations got involved and donated money and materials. By the end of the second year, the Green Fleet had grown to four boats and four barges. The brothers appeared on radio talk shows and on local and national TV shows. Activists throughout the nation began organizing their own Green Fleets. The Green Fleet got bigger and better every year. Five years after its inception, the three brothers were able to go snorkeling on weekends in their river. Unfortunately, a year later, Manny accidentally stuck himself with a hypodermic needle while picking up a dirty plastic bag. He got an infection but didn’t see a doctor until it was too late. At Manny's funeral, his brothers vowed to carry on their volunteer work until they were too sick or old to do it any longer. To honor Manny, the St. James city council voted to rename the city's largest park after him.

A Cleaner River (1)

The three brothers were sitting on their boat, having a few beers and talking about the good old days. As they talked, they watched the trash float by on the St. James River. Their conversation turned to the trash.

“It didn’t use to be like this,” said Manny. “Remember how we used to go swimming in this river? I wouldn’t put my big toe in this river nowadays. There’s no telling what disease you’d catch. Time was when people knew that trash went into trash cans. Nowadays, the streets, the woods, the public parks, and the lakes and rivers are just huge trash cans without lids.”

“Not to mention the freeways—last night on the radio they reported a refrigerator in lane one and a washing machine in the middle of an off-ramp,” said Moe. “And almost every day drivers have to dodge mattresses, ladders, and tires on the freeways. And what about all the graffiti on the freeway signs?”

They all agreed that slobs were making America ugly. Then Jack had an idea. “Look, since we’re all retired and we have the time and energy, why don’t we do something instead of just complaining? We can't clean up everything, but maybe we could clean up our river.” They liked this idea, and talked about it for another couple of weeks. Manny suggested a name for their effort—the Green Fleet, an organization devoted to turning the St. James River blue again.

A Clean Toilet Bowl

Mildred’s sister called. She was going to drop by. And whenever she visited, she usually made at least one trip to the bathroom. That meant one thing—Mildred needed to clean her toilet bowl. This was the household chore that she hated the most. It was so icky! She grabbed the cleanser from beneath the bathroom sink. She sprinkled lots of it into the toilet bowl. Then she got out of her clothes, put on a big T-shirt, and pulled on her long-sleeved rubber gloves. Finally, she put on her goggles, because she didn’t want any toilet water to splash into her eyes. She didn’t know if toilet water could cause an eye infection, but she wasn’t going to take any chances. She grabbed the long-handled toilet bowl brush that was beneath the sink. She started scrubbing. She scrubbed under the rim, all around the bowl, and deep into the throat of the bowl. Five minutes later, she figured she was finished. She flushed the toilet and checked the bowl. It was clean as a whistle. Mildred breathed a sigh of relief, because usually she had to scrub the bowl twice to remove all the stains. She removed her goggles, gloves, and T-shirt. Then she hopped into the shower.

A Bird Attacks

Heather loved the freedom of soaring high above the land and sea. She learned how to hang-glide from her boyfriend.

Initially, she was scared to death. The first time he took her up, she hung on for dear life. But by the end of that flight, she was hooked. Half a year later, she bought her own hang-glider.

Almost every weekend, she drove to Torrey Pines and leaped off the cliff. She could soar to La Jolla in less than five minutes. She liked to fly over the town. She would wave at kids pointing and looking up at her, and they would shout and wave back excitedly.

One day she was returning to the launch site when she noticed a red hawk rapidly approaching her. It briefly disappeared. Then she heard its claws ripping the wing’s fabric. It flew off. But the next thing she knew, it was flying straight at her. She turned out of its way, but it dove at her again. She was scared.

She had to evade its attacks four times before she was able to land safely. Even after she landed, it circled overhead, as if daring her to fly again. What did I do to you, she wondered.

As she drove home, she found out that she had been lucky. The radio news reported that in Australia, a hang-glider had been attacked by not one, but two, eagles.

Maybe it was something in the air, Heather thought.

A Bad MRI Experience

“Boy, we just wasted a whole morning,” Roy complained over the phone to his middle-aged son. Roy’s wife had been scheduled for a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam, because her shoulder had been bothering her for months. It had gotten to the point where her golf game was suffering—she couldn’t break 120 anymore. Her drives, although still down the middle of the fairway, barely went 90 yards. Without the game of golf and the company of her golfing companions, Pat was a depressed woman.

Her doctor had recommended the MRI exam. For a shoulder exam, the patient lies face up on a flat metal “bed.” The bed slides into the MRI machine, like a DVD sliding into a DVD player. The patient’s nose is barely two inches from the metal ceiling. Many patients who are even slightly claustrophobic become nervous or even hysterical when they are slid into this compartment. The MRI operator has to slide them back out where they can “breathe” again. This happens regularly, even though patients are warned about the tomblike environment.

Pat’s doctor had given her a sedative to take half an hour before the exam. He had also told her to wear a sleep mask, which would cover her eyes so that she wouldn’t see the ceiling just inches from her face. Pat took the sedative and wore the mask. But as soon as she was slid all the way into the machine, she started screaming. The technician pushed the button to slide her back out. She was hyperventilating.

“Oh, my God! I could feel it! It was like I was being buried alive!” she exclaimed to her husband. “You’re such a baby,” Roy told her as they walked out of the MRI room.

48 Homes Burn Down near Malibu (2)

Bill told Jimi to look up at the ridge, near the park. Bill thought he saw flames. Jimi went outside with his binoculars. He could see a suspicious glow. Using the binoculars, he could see flames. “God damn it!” he yelled.

He called Bill back. Then he and Bill started calling one neighbor after another, as they had established a fire warning and evacuation plan years ago. The whole community of 98 homeowners managed to get into their cars with their families and pets and just a few of their material possessions. They all survived the raging fire.

Unfortunately, 48 homes were destroyed and 27 were damaged. The fire engines were just not close enough to the community to get there before the Santa Ana winds, gusting up to 60 mph, ripped through the canyon. The next day, firefighters declared that the fire was a result of “human activity,” although they hadn’t determined if the fire was deliberate or accidental.

Homeowners were allowed to return to their home sites to assess damages. Most homeowners were philosophical about their losses. “We’ve got our families and our friends. That’s far more important than our homes and other possessions,” said Eve Grant.

But Jimi Hendrix was less even-tempered. “Common sense would tell anybody that you don’t set fires in a wooded area when the wind is blowing like crazy. Any idiot would know that. As far as I'm concerned, these bastards ought to be burned at the stake. And I’d grab me a front-row seat.”