Warning In A Dream

As a youngster I don’t recall failing at many things. But one botched attempt stands out. We lived on a small farm and after butchering a cow I got permission from Dad to try to tan the hide. I had read up on the subject and was all excited with what I could do with the leather. It was the time when Davey Crockett story was popular and I wanted to look like him. I could make that leather outfit myself! (I was nine years old.)

I had no idea it would be so much work! The hide was huge! Surely it came from an elephant, not one of our cows! Spread out on the ground it was as big as a room. I never even got it really scraped clean. I was simply not up to the job. It ended up in the garbage for the wild animals to fight over.

Dad never said a thing about it and neither did I. Perhaps he knew all along what would be the likely outcome and thought that it would be a good learning experience for me and just let me go ahead and learn. One way or another, wit wouldn't cost anything.

In the dream, two nights ago, there I was again, with the chance to tan a cow hide, trying to figure out how much room I would need, if I had all the ingredients and equipment that was necessary. Would I try it? I didn’t really know. The dream ended there.

The dream experience was very sobering for me. Here I am, trying to keep up my enthusiasm, trying to share it with others in hopes that some change for the good can be made in lives. All I’m trying to do, really, is to change the world! And a small task like tanning a hide makes me question?

Sometimes (often) I marvel at my weaknesses. It was just a small dream. And it’s good and needed to be slowed down a bit, I guess, sometimes. But Hey, after all, it's not going to cost me anything to try, is it?

“Our future lies in group survival and success, not in individual achievement.” - David Suzuki

"If at first you don't succeed....."

"If at first you don't succeed, give up and watch TV." - Homer Simpson