Act of beauty

My mom told me a good story today.
She has been totally appalled and disgusted by acts of vandalism against city property, namely people breaking windows of bus shelters. She takes the bus quite often and has watched the seemingly endless cycle of those windows being broken and replaced just to be broken again. She has stood helplessly on the sidelines, fuming. For those of you who know my mom, you know something's gotta give.
Since she retired, my mom has been doing watercolours with a passion. She has always looked around for inspiration and the other day, she saw it in a window that had been shattered but not broken. The shattering was in the shape of a star, which she dutifully copied in her notebook. Then she saw another shattered window, with a "better-looking" star, which she also copied down. She was inspired to write a poem (which I asked her to send me) and was moved the next day to post it beside the star... thereby transforming it in an act of beauty. She was amazed at her own boldness!

I dreamt I was a butterfly

I just woke up from an unsettling dream in which I was taking a language class. It seems I was at the intermediate level. I usually stopped by the beginner's class at 5:00 after work to say hi to my best friend M. who took that class, then moved on to my own. On the day of the dream, I couldn't remember what time I was due in class. At 5:00, I was eating chips (another unusual event) when the phone rang from a language provider from work, asking how they were doing. They implied that I now had to answer this very loaded question because of some reason I couldn't understand. They wanted to know because they were bidding for a new projects and wanted to get some assurance they would get chosen. I answered noncommittally, but in a very assured voice and they were satisfied and hung up. My body told me I was supposed to be elsewhere; I was also given to understand that M. had called her father to know if I had called him to say I couldn't show up. As I was walking to catch the bus, I had to go up a hill and I couldn't figure out where the bus was supposed to come from. One went past (not mine), so I headed that way. Some people were waiting, milling around. I was trying to make sense of the routes. There was a disturbance (a fight, maybe? pushing? shoving? - no yelling). I can't remember now but I think I woke up before getting to class. I woke up and thought Alzheimer - which is what makes this confused dream interesting.

To my mind, these could be clues in how Alzheimer progresses: what is most interesting to me is the lack of affect. Dreams where you are late for class are common and they usually signal anxiety - the kind you feel as a child and which you use as a symbol from then on. In this dream, though I felt the class interested me (and the dream specifies it was a language class, which is a sure sign I wouldn't miss it) I wasn't rattled by the fact that I might be late or miss it entirely. There is also the lack of affect in regards to work and the fact that someone was blatantly trying to take advantage of this perceived flaw. I could tell my thoughts were muddled but did not want it to show. Also, my body let me know I usually should be doing a certain thing (on Tuesdays, you get ready for class) and I felt restless. My response was to eat chips - totally inappropriate and out of character. I wonder if there is a lack of sodium in sufferers of Alzheimer?

I remember the last years of my grandma - she was confused and afraid and then slowly dispassionate though anxious. I wonder if by studying dreams you could see the progression in Alzheimer's patients.