I am running with several other people, including Mark from the Expedia networking group, on a rough
trail down a steep hillside of grass and flowers. I consider checking my speed as we descend over
rocky outcrops but decide instead to continue going all out. When the trail turns to the right and
levels out, I sprint towards the finish leaving Mark behind and passing another runner with a narrow
severe face to come in second. That qualifies me to be one of the first two individuals to ride
down the next hill on something like an escalator with shallow bathtub-like tanks in place of steps.
The tanks are in pairs so I and my partner each have our own tank.
I and someone else, perhaps another early coworker from Expedia, dive into Green Lake. The water is
shallow, only a few inches deep. We dive in a second time; this time the water is only about an
inch deep and my nose digs a furrow in the mud. Nonetheless I swim out across the lake, passing
over a sailboat which has sunk upright in water about 12 feet deep leaving only a couple of feet of
the mast protruding above the water. I see the sailboat quite clearly below me though it is covered
with a thin layer of sediment.
Reaching the shore I climb out on a beach consisting of flat stones and perhaps ledges. The beach
forms one shore of a narrow strip of land, perhaps only 10 feet wide, with blue saltwater and surf
on the other side. I see shells on the beach, flat and pink inside like scallops though more
irregular, but most of them have been stacked up in piles of maybe 3 to 10 or so like little cairns.
I am disappointed that someone has probably already taken the best shells but I do see one fair
sized conch.
Walking along the outer shore of the strip of land I reach a point consisting of ledges sloping out
into the water. Several cabins have been built of varnished logs on the point; they are a little
askew as if forced out of shape by the surf. I stand on a deck straddling the ledges between the
first cabin and the two outer cabins and watch as a large wave wells up and floods the deck from
both sides with several inches of water.
This dream appears to be a assessment of my adult life with a focus on work, retirement and
disability. Running in the first scene may represent my determination to succeed (or at least not
fail) in my work and by extension in other areas of my life as a young adult. Swimming in the
second scene may represent a reduced level of commitment later in my career. I don't work as hard
at swimming as I did at running but I persevere. I dive again into the lake even though my nose has
to plow a furrow in the mud on my way to the water. The sunken sailboat refers to a memory of
sailing with an Expedia coworker and may symbolize my sense of burnout in my last few years there.
The shells on the beach recall collecting shells on Sanibel Island and may represent my pursuit of
hobbies in retirement. As with work earlier in my life, I achieved a measure of success in running
and birding and such. The final scene of a surge of water amidst cabins warped by storms probably
represents the disruption ALS introduced into my life in my last few years. Overcoming is perhaps
not quite the right word to describe my experience; I didn't come in first in anything but on the
other hand I finished respectably.