visiting home & ozomatli day

so, according to my dream this morning...

ozomatli is a harvesting day that occurs on october 23rd. on that day, plants are harvested using a specific method, derived from indigenous people, that involves a very specific process of uprooting and replanting the plants. in my dream, there are a few organized persons (mainly white, in their 20s or 30s) who are organizing some plants on what feels like a punk farm. one of them is giving this brief background of ozomatli (i hear his voice detached from his body, like a tour guide speaking from afar). he distinguishes the ozomatli practice from another method of replanting that he dismisses as being seen done mostly by punk hipster kids. feeling that the people on the farm are not much different, i find it interesting that he is distinguishing their identities and practice from such kids using such clear, reductive labels.

this whole time, my view is of a corner of a building and the area around the corner. along the farther side of the building corner, a few feet outwards is a parallel, narrow farm-like structure, with metal arches rising from soil. perpendicular to the adjacent side of the corner (the side nearest me), there is a single row of 3 or 4 ft. tall, long-leafed plants with big, purple corn-like buds/flowers stretched straight ahead. i am standing a few feet in front, in front of a dark patch of soil. i am happily digging out with wide edges the plants and soil in this patch that is parallel to the wall, perpendicular to the row of potted, purple-budded plants.

after this process of uprooting, h.s. friend M comes by and is also working on the farm. he starts talking to me for a bit, as i stand there and take a break. as i take break, i realize i feel very physically stressed. i decide to go for a jog around the grassy, diamond, baseball-like field to which this tiny farm area opens out into. i'm looking forward to returning to the work, but just gotta shake out the stress in my body by this free sprint around the field. as i pass the backstop of the diamond, returning to the farther corner of the building, i pass by someone i recognize cheerleading. when i return, M has finished the job. the soil now appears as wooden tiles from my waking life old house. and the plants that have been planted are now thick leafless stems arising from out of the side of the tiles. i am a little disappointed that M has finished all the work, and wonder if he thought my going for a sprint meant i wasn't dedicated to the work and therefore, wasn't going to finish it. and then, siding with the logic, i figure, "well, maybe i wasn't working hard enough. probably other people here are working harder and i shouldn't have taken a break."

now, prior to this dream sequence, i am visiting my friends in southern california, though the scenery looks much more like vague dream scenery as opposed to anything familiar or concrete. i see my best friend, from an observational point of view, and it becomes apparent to me how my living far away effects her. i become aware of how the effect on her is also felt in my life, but in a different way and how unlike her, i've been accustomed to living a sort of socially difficult life--whereas the source of her difficulty is pinpointed as my absence and felt as a subtle fear of the many other people she is sociable with leaving her. then, she and i are walking around and talking, and i tell her ambiguously how i have stuff to show/share with her, without telling her it is the music i've been working on in school. then, W, another h.s. acquaintance comes by. he is on the move and hands me a piece of paper with dates and times, and reiterates what is already written on the paper, as he points to it, "i'll be here on this day, with free time from 1 to 10. let's hang out then." at first, i misread the times, thinking he's designated only one hour of time to hang out. i feel disappointed that the time is so short, but then i realize my mistake and think, "wow, nine hours. that's a good amount of time!" then i jokingly write on the paper, "that sounds good," as i respond aloud the same words. then M (same one) comes by, handing me an small orange rectangular sheet of paper that is less-detailed than the white sheet W handed me with his schedule. the one M hands me says something like, "I'll be in T.O. Let's hang out." i say to him, "sure," wondering why he wants to hang out with me and thinking that it's because in T.O., there aren't many people he would want to hang out with...and apparently, i'm the closest to cool in T.O. in his book. then, he leaves.

now, i'm talking on the phone with a h.s. friend D, who is telling me about a piece of music that he got commissioned to write/perform and such-and-such a venue. i also become aware of our friend DJ who has some sort of institution-related, art work (a bush-like structure) going on. i am very happy for the both of them. M is now far away but communicating to me somehow (it's like we are talking, but there is no phone). he tells me about the changes in his life, about how he's thinking of looking for new work, expressing dissatisfaction with his past work, and how he's thinking of moving out of santa cruz. he tells me about some music he wrote (compositional as opposed to songwriting) that is going to be performed at such-and-such a venue. i am excited for him, and relate the news about D and his music. M proceeds to tell me they got the gig together. it's the same venue. he is very confident that no will will show up and disappointed about this. i offer my sincere support, "aww, i would totally come, if i were there..." i also tell him about D's unclassified instutition/art work. as i talk to M, i realize his personality will always be very strong and fast-paced, and i wonder how one would relate to him on a normal basis (as opposed to once in a while), feeling it is something new to me, that I would have to adjust to.