Jean Lafitte’s Bed

I am told that a bed I have slept in many times once belonged to Jean Lafitte. I never doubted that it was not. I like to feel that he and I now have something in common.

It does seem that the dreams I have while sleeping upon this bed have always had a bit more enchantment although all dreams are enchanted. At least most.

Recently one was so vivid that I can remember it well. (I wish I would have kept a log of all the nights sleeping in this pirate’s bed). Anyway, on with this dream:

As dreams go they never seem to have a clear starting and ending, just events that merge into each other. So, I’m not really starting from the beginning. I found myself with three nymphs. Truly. Nymphs, by legend, are always young and beautiful and certainly alluring! These were true to every detail and more. Imagine what and who you will for everyone has their own vision of what nymphs look like. All I can say is these were what I imagine them to be. No need for description, use your own imagination.

It is sad that my dreams, as the years go by, have seemed to be tamed. Night visions in my younger years contained no moral restrictions. I did what I wanted and, believe me, it was good. So (I might have to thank Jean here) it was a surprise to see visions that in past years would have left me more tired when I awoke than when I fell asleep!

Now the magic of this dream was not going to be one of the bed becoming a ship, rocking and rolling on a very wet ocean, it was more of a small treasure chest being opened after years under lock and key. Don’t think I was not drawn to these nymphs and as a good dream goes they were drawn to me. Being the age that I am did bring enough moral baggage to this scene that I hesitated. And here is where the gold began to glitter.

There was this ‘tension’. I wanted them and they (all three, mind you) were willing. As the four of us gazed, touched, smiled, caressed a strange realization came over me that the ‘tension’ was the treasure. Give in and it is gone. Yes, this story might have satisfied a broader audience and given birth to daydreams in the rain but, sorry, great truths sometimes are born from restraint. And these become more valuable as the number of our days gain more zeros.

So often we wonder ‘what was that dream trying to tell me?’. This one came right out, told me and said don’t forget. Sometimes the magic in life is given through tension. Quench that tension and that story is over. (It’s like those never tiring electrons circling that proton with the neutron standing by, watching it all.) Allow it to remain and it is life. Give in and the magic collapses.

I am friends with these particular nymphs and will be seeing them again. Giving in to lust in this moment could have easily caused them to disappear forever and be forgotten. With dreams, nymphs, myths and legends living on and on is their ‘life’. This is the treasure.

Now this truthful treasure does not always apply. Don’t get me wrong. I still live in the physical world and am perfectly imperfect. My old friends and I laughed at some of the sayings used by our parents such as “So, you expect to have your cake and eat it too?”. We all became rebels of the ’60s. How could we follow anyone, even dear to our hearts, that spouted such nonsense? Of course we want to eat the damn cake! We may have gone wrong many times, but we had to learn things our way even if the hard way. But if you think of it this ‘tension’ theory applies to many situations. And, I guess we did eat that cake and it was gone quickly, forever.

Life is strange, carry on.
And please reply with situations you know of in your life that might keep something good alive by not breaking the tension!

Oh yeah, no one really knows what happened to Jean. In death, Jean Lafitte continued to be what he’d been all his life: a legendary enigma. His life and his death never came together to destroy him.