Had a dream where I traveled to a mountain resort town to meet a friend. The purpose was to watch the NFL Divisional Playoff football game between the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49’ers. This was unusual in that: a) I am not overly interested in sports and cannot remember another sports related dream; and b) it was a vivid dream that did not fade completely over time.
I was traveling by snow machine (though how a snow machine could traverse paved streets is a puzzle) to a mountain resort town or village. On the way I stopped at a service station for directions and fuel. Upon arrival, I checked into the prearranged hotel and met with my friend RD. We decided to have dinner in the hotel restaurant-lounge and watch the game there. However, the lounge and restaurant were both overcrowded. So, we walked along the one-street town in search of another place to enjoy some food and football. Finding no room at any other establishment, we finally decided to skip dinner and watch the remainder of the game in one of our reserved hotel rooms.
RD and I walked back to the hotel and discovered the lounge was now almost deserted. Relieved, we sat at a booth and ordered from the menu. The game, playing on the big screen TV, was in the third quarter. Thinking, for some reason, that I should remember this, I noted the score.
The rest of the dream is forgotten. This dream occurred on Saturday night, 01/11/2012. The football game witnessed in the dream aired the following Sunday afternoon, 01/12/2012.
Sunday, I traveled by car from the city to my mountain home. On the way I stopped at a local market for groceries. Upon arrival, I went to my aging neighbor SK’s house to prepare dinner and watch the game. Jokingly, I informed SK that I had dreamed about the game and knew the outcome and final score. I asked if he was willing to make a small wager. Rather than laugh or scoff or take me up on the bet, SK looked at me for a bit in contemplation, then picked up some writing materials and asked for the score. He duly noted my response. This was a couple of hours or so prior to commencement of the game airing live on national network TV.
I went into the kitchen and started organizing dinner. There were some complications, and it took me longer than expected to complete. Finally everything was ready. I prepared plates for us both and repaired to the den to eat and watch the remainder of the game with SK. I had missed the first half play.
The game ended precisely as I had dreamt: San Francisco 45, Green Bay 31. SK grabbed the notes he had previously written and, seeing that my earlier prediction had come to pass, he asked: “How the hell did you do that?” I shrugged and replied that I had no idea, that it was a dream. He continued, saying that I should buy some lottery tickets as luck was surely riding shotgun. I countered that I had not dreamt of the lottery.
Upon further observation, here are some interesting similarities between dreaming and waking events:
Dreaming: Drove snow machine to a mountain resort town.
Waking: Drove car to small town mountain home.
Dreaming: Stopped on the way at service station for directions and fuel.
Waking: Stopped on the way at grocery market for supplies.
Dreaming: Travel intent, to meet my friend RD for dinner and game.
Waking: Travel intent, to visit my neighbor SK for dinner and game.
Dreaming: Couldn’t find place to eat-watch, missed first half+ of game.
Waking: Dinner took longer than expected, missed first half of game.
Dreaming: Almost conscious, remembered the score and winning team.
Waking: Game ended with exact outcome and score as in dream.
Remember most of the dream as though it is a waking memory.
Perhaps, I should take closer note of these kinds of “visions” and get better at interpreting and recognizing patterns? In any case, it remains to be seen whether this was a fluke, a one-off event of indeterminate purpose, or a latent human ability that can be honed with attention and practice.