Sunday, June 9, 2019

Connecticut Cards 002 - Singing the Blues

The St. Louis Blues can win their first-ever Stanley Cup tonight, with a win over the Boston Bruins. I'm not happy about that.

Yes, the Blues are the underdog and a lot of neutral fans are sick of seeing Boston teams win. But I'm a New England guy - and anyway this might be the Town's last title for a while. 

If you weren't watching the series you'd have to assume that it's the Bruins who are trying to win by brute force, resulting in two players being suspended in the final. But no, it's Craig Berube's Blues bullying the Bruins. I've been watching Stanley Cup finals since about 1992. I've never seen the NHL suspend two players on the same team in the same SCF. 

Anyway..former Blues and Panthers center Eric Boguniecki is from my hometown. "Bogie" scored 34 NHL goals over seven seasons, 22 of them for St. Louis in 2002-03.  He also played for the AHL's Bridgeport Sound Tigers near the end of his pro career. 


Boguniecki has 67 total cards. I only have five of them, so I added a few to my wantlist.





I had another dream about a natural disaster. This doesn't happen all that often, every few months or so, but it's the most common subject of my most vivid dreams. Often, like in this one, it's a tornado.

I'm walking on a well-worn dirt path along an old wooden fence outside a street fair. Two or three patrons are up ahead of us, and I'm in a group of four or five. I'm trying to chat with Taryn, but her biggest, craziest superfan keeps interrupting us. She barely acknowledges him, which boosts my ego a bit. But then..he emerges as a balloon and drifts over the fence to our right like the Trump Baby. He squeals a couple times, like he's still trying to talk, but we keep on walking as he floats away.

In the next scene, I'm sitting in a booth at a food court. Taryn is in the booth ahead of me, and I get her to turn around by asking about her engagement ring. She turns to face me, crosses her arms over the seat that separates us, and proudly displays her ring. "How long were you waiting for that?" I ask. "Three weeks!" She replies, exasperated.  

*In my dream self's mind, three weeks is the length of time she was expecting a proposal.

Undeterred (or completely platonic?) I mention to Taryn that "We should hang out some time. Maybe get a drink* or something. We're always meeting like this."

* I don't drink IRL, but I always feel like I've missed out on a social life as a result.

Here's where the tornado comes in. I'm inside this building that feels like a labyrinth. Long corridors and small rooms, all made of plywood. These are the most non-descript rooms you can think of, as if my brain gave up on adding details. Yet every room was filled to capacity. I'm in one such room when the tornado bursts inside. Somehow, it doesn't blow a hole in the roof, but it sucks out a few older people behind me. I look up and survey the situation with only one thought on my mind - Taryn!
 
*this is where I should point out that Taryn is from Kansas - something that didn't occur to me in the dream

Fighting through the plywood maze, I try to outrun a twister and catch up to her. But she's too far ahead. The twister comes closer. I'm stuck. We're all stuck. It's going to get us. I hit the ground. I look over my right shoulder and see an older man sucked away. It feels like I know him, like he's a distant relative named Joe. I'm next, I say to myself. I look ahead, into the face of God - which is actually a marble statue of a dog. I'm ready.

The eyes of the dog statue seem to blink red. The tornado retreats. We're saved. I rise to my feet, with only one thought on my mind - Taryn!

I burst out of the square room and into the hallway. At the far end I see Taryn enter a room and close the door. I run through the hallway and enter her room. "You made it!" I exclaim.

One of the people in the room looks an awful lot like my former co-worker Suzanne. She interjects and I acknowledge the others in the room so as not to sound too obvious. "Is everyone okay?" I ask.

Taryn smiles. I want to hug her. I wake up instead.


What does this have to do with the Stanley Cup Final? Nothing, really. But..she was wearing a blue shirt.


~






3 comments:

  1. Once Canadian teams are gone, I really don't care... But I am sick of Boston teams in general right around now..

    ReplyDelete