(This isn't the cool part of the dream). After the stage performance, I was walking around and there was some kind of restaurant, or just a booth from a restaurant, backstage. At the table was someone who I recognized as a friend, but I didn't know who it was. Once I sat down though, I realized that it was my cousin Megan.

Megan passed on, rapidly and unexpectedly, a few years ago. She shows up in dreams from time to time, but I hadn't talked with her in a dream for a very long time. I think she shows up as a guide, and as a comfort, to let me know that things are okay, and that she's okay, because I miss her pretty frequently, especially at family holidays.

When in England at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of 'empire building' by George Bush.

He answered by saying, "Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return."

It became very quiet in the room.

**************

Then there was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break one of the French engineers came back into the room saying "Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intended to do, bomb them?"

A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: "Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck.. We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?"

Once again, dead silence.

*****************

A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of Officers that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, 'whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English.' He then asked, 'Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?'

Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied 'Maybe it's because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German.'

You could have heard a pin drop!

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It's time we all quit apologizing to the rest of the world for our greatness, take pride in being an American in the greatest country in the history of civilization.

Then let's roll up our sleeves and go to work on the problems we do have:

immigration, health care, energy, etc.

It won't be easy, but worthwhile things seldom are.

God bless America !!

Here's an open secret: Dreaming isn't really about sleeping; it's about waking up. Dreams wake us up to the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. They can tell us what we need to know and alert us to actions we need to take.