What does your dream mean?

Book Review by Molly J. Bredehoft

Title: 5 Steps to Decode Your Dreams

Author: Gillian Holloway, Ph.D

Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.

P.O. Box 4410

Naperville, IL 60567-4410

ISBN 978-1-4022-5598-4

Price: $12.99

As a writer, advice is often given to keep track of your dreams. Why? Because dreams can be a valuable source for a writer to draw upon when telling stories and developing characters.  Certain taboos have been associated with interpreting dreams, but when the chance came for me to read 5 Steps to Decode Your Dreams, I was intrigued.  Yes, I wanted to understand what some of my own dreams mean, but more importantly I wanted to understand how dreams might relate to human nature and the characters I write about.

Colorado plains

As fall approaches, I often reflect on the place where I grew up- the Colorado plains. I don’t know why; the autumn season in the mountains is something people drive for miles to see and experience. And although the beauty of the changing leaves of the Aspen trees is remarkable and breathtaking, my mind and heart still wander and think on the pumpkin patches and the dried corn in the fields that only the plains can provide.

What I miss about the Colorado prairies the most is how the wide sky stretches for miles and encompasses everything the eye can see. Cottonwood trees grow along the banks of creeks. More grass than sage grows on the flat lands, and as the wind blows over the golden strands the soft sound of their brushing moves in the same direction.

Along the barrow ditches sunflowers grow, their heads facing the sun. Cut, yellow wheat fields sit against a prairie sunset, making me wish I could walk thru the whole field.

Since much of the land is farm land, the smell of grass and dirt intermingle on the hot Indian summer days. Crickets sing in the night. The hope of the spectacular mountain range to the west is covered by pales skies in the day and stars at night.
The evenings on the plains seem to last for many hours, and the earth slowly cools down.

I have always dreamed of living in the mountains, and I’m glad I can, but the Colorado plains of my youth still touch my heart as the home of many memories.