The Unknown Bride

Sorry to have been away so long, I've been away in Abergele, Wales; representing my company at the launch of a new very sheltered housing development - Tannery Court/Cwrt Barcdy. I impressed a few locals with my layman's knowledge of Emrys Ap Iwan (we held the launch at the school bearing his name).

I try to keep my writings on Myspace, separate from my blog here (to maintain the accurate impression that they are separate entities). I usually only enter dreams on Myspace, however because of the strength and nature of the last dream I experienced, I thought on this occasion I would replicate it here:

I dreamed I was getting married at my parents church in Alcester... it seemed to be an arranged marriage. I have never met the woman before me, yet I seemed to have little choice about the situation (although logically one would think I would have, seeing as I was dressed for the occasion).

This woman was blonde and fairly tall, her hair extended to about midway down the length of the back. Most significantly, I could tell she was emotional and genuinely seemed to need me... the wedding was important and she was sure she could be a good wife if I gave her a chance, though I knew her not. She had some kind of spinal problem as she seemed to stoop a lot.

I remember coming away from the centre of the church to discuss this in the lady chapel (where the choir gets changed at St. Nick's). On the way in I saw Mrs Stally, widow of the first vicar I knew at St. Nick's and mother of an old childhood friend. On the way out I saw Steve Burch... our last vicar at Great Alne... and I was just walking over to go and ask him what he made of it all... when rather annoyingly I woke up. I could have done with some sage advice about that and a real life issue that is bothering me... although I'm not sure whether the advice of an imagined friend is the same as a real one.

The feelings I most remember are that I was incredibly tempted to go through with the ceremony because I had great compassion for the woman. I felt uneasy being plunged into the ultimate commitment with a complete stranger... and I felt that heroic part of me that tends to be the gallant knight wanting to say yes and hang the consequences... because a lady was in need. The other part of me was saying that hang on you've been at the whim of ladies in need all your life and it has led you to danger... is this wise?

I felt that I should say yes... that this woman was different... and that all the rottenness of the past had happened to dissuade me from making the correct decision.

Oh and the other night in my dreams I saw the moon shining a silvery blue. It was huge and you could make out the pock marks of all the craters... it seemed a lot nearer to Earth than it should have been. It was night in my hometown and there was trouble in town.

Any people with the spiritual gift of interpreting dreams would at this point be very welcome and in fact strongly desired... as my life seems to be heading on a one way trip into the surreal at present.

God bless

N

And Then There Was One...

Up until yesterday, I was not the only Nick working for Retirement Security Limited. As our office is relatively small and employs under 20 staff... it can get confusing at times with emails, faxes, letters and name calls that are usually only addressed by Christian name. The amount of times I received requests to authorize major structural alterations that should have gone to Nick Young - our Property Director, was pretty high... I only signed a few of them off as ok, though! If anyone from work is reading that... don't worry I'm just kidding, I always forwarded them on!

Nick, sadly for us has decided to move onto pastures new. I shall miss the mayhem, and confusion we caused... as well as his immensely dry wit. He's a good bloke!

We had a leaving do after work at The One Elm pub in Guild Street... not only was it a chance to say goodbye, but it provided an excellent opportunity to scoutr out the Stratford-upon-Avon Friday night post work night life that I usually miss.

I shall have to sample this more often.

I loved the atmosphere of the pub. The older staff members felt that the music was too loud... but it was alright for me... they played a good mix of indie, alternative and other stuff both retro/classic and modern. The seating and room sizes were quite intimate and the decor was stylish. We were provided with some vol-au-vents that looked suspiciously like removed appendixes or other minor organs... but actually tasted gorgeously addictive.

I was jokingly accused of hitting on one of the barmaids on account of the fact I thanked her for removing the empties.

Just before leaving I had a few close encounters... it had become quite busy in the main area around the bar, but I needed the loo pretty bad so I chanced the crowds. On the way, I bumped into a young lady from a local firm of estate agents who I had been keen on in the Summer... which was a nice surprise. I had a brief conversation, but decided to get out of there when I realized my conversation style had started to evolve into gibberish.

When I finally got to the loo... I had a mild panic attack. I entered through the white door and found myself in a tight 3ft square white ante-room and had trouble locating which "wall" had the door into the main toilet.

On the way back I had to wait while an entire convoy of punters came past on their way to the back of the pub. I was reclining against a pillar to give them the space to move past, a girl reached out and gently grabbed my tummy as she went past... what was all that about?

Anyway, I got back to the others and headed out of the door bidding Nick farewell... when I return to work on Monday, I shall once more be the only Nick there... I just hope I don't start getting property alteration requests.