DREAM CATCHER HOLDS TIGHT

Hang on to the good stuff as long as you can

Picture your dream catcher self at a SoCal party with your wife’s high school friends.

It’s all good in a Santa Monica apartment complex, except for the pet.

Not a kitty, not a puppy, not a dream catcher, but a huge freaking snake.

The same pride of pet prevailed: Do you want to pet the snake?

I’ve pet cats and dogs, but never a snake.

Oddly enough, I’ve never wanted to pet a snake.

If I did, it would be a garter snake, or I might take a chance on a red racer.

Instead, the snake that broke my streak of no-snake was this bad boy.

The key to petting a snake is standing, or sitting, your ground. Let the snake approach.

Stay calm and know this constrictor isn’t sizing you up for dinner.

And it probably won’t strike you in the face.

By the reaction around the room, they’d seen this play out before.

No one else wanted to pet the snake, but they wanted to see if the new guy was up to the challenge.

I made it, but the thought that kept racing through me brain was, ‘do snakes smell fear?’

I tried not to stink the place up.

Dream Catcher Advantage: History

In my get up and go to work years I got up and went to the Oregon Historical Society where I worked as a dream catcher, a Portland Oregon dream catcher.

I still am.

Everyone is Portland knows what I’m holding from 1977.

Every year NBA players share the same dream of getting one of these.

The Portland Trail Blazers want one real bad. They’ve had Damian Lillard his whole career and he wants one bad enough to make Portland his mission.

Instead of demanding a trade to a contending team every year, he checks in to say he wants to stay here.

Portland is where he will catch his dreams, and he’ll take us all along for the ride.

But if he were traded, what would Portland get in return?

More than Utah got from Cleveland after they sent their star away.

Warm Blooded Dreamer

Holding stuff makes a nice picture.

Most of the time you do the dream catcher thing, then give it back.

Not this time, not with something so damn cute.

The last dog I held with meaning was Daisy, a sixteen year old Mini-wienie dog, a long haired dachshund.

I held her in the parking lot of the vet while my wife drove. She died in my arms that day.

Two years later we were set for a new dog, but the momma had a phantom pregnancy.

“So we’re getting a phantom dog? It ought to fit right into our routine.”

Then two years after that we heard momma dog was pregnant for real and we have first choice.

Well, this is what a #1 Pick looks like from the start.

I have high hopes.

Real Time Dream Catcher

When you hold a baby you share dreams.

Just be sure not to drop the dreams.

This is my nieces baby at my son’s wedding.

He was a perfect addition to the party.

What are my dreams for the future of baby, for all babies?

Start with love, people, the sort of love I saw in this babie’s mom and dad.

A wanted, cherished, baby is what I dream of.

I want babies to have clean water and clean air. Is that asking too much?

My dream is that babies as adults have the freedom of choice that is the American promise.

I dream of days spent with grandchildren playing and learning.

As a father of two who ask why I’m always around, and learning why with their own kids and future kids, I am a dream catcher.

They will never ask someone else, “Who is my dad, really.”

My confidence is based on no secret life, a second family, or a hidden agenda.

Their confidence is based on having a dad committed for life, not just until they’re eighteen.

How about that, boys? That’s the bar.

It’s not too high if the old Granddad can get over it.

Here, take a hand.

If you’re around a climbing toddler you know the magic of offering them a hand during their current ascent of the kitchen table.

It’s the same magic when they’re in their 30’s.

Bonus Points: What Am I Holding Here?