Samoan Shoes

Last night I dreamed that my wife left me, my new house fell down, and so did I…down a 600-metre cliff.
Dream interpreters will have a view on what that means. I would be interested in hearing from them. But what I think it means is that I need a holiday. Fortunately, next week I am getting one.
But the remarkable thing about that dream is that it didn’t include anything about my work. Given that work has figured relentlessly and remorseless in previous dreams, except when it’s inducing a sleepless night, I would think it would have figured in this one.
I have had a bad week. But others have had it worse, far worse. I think here most of the people of Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga and also the Philippines and Indonesia. Many had little to start with; now they have lost everything, including lives and loved ones.
Now we have the call to help: food, shelter, medicine, people, money.
And shoes.
I heard yesterday that one of the more pressing problems is that there are so few shoes in Samoa and so much glass on the ground. Cut feet are compounding the island’s medical problems. That’s something I didn’t think about and good on those who did—and created a specific charity: Shoes for Samoa. I don’t know how widespread that is, but here in my local town you can donate shoes through the supermarkets.
Today I’ll head down to the supermarket to hand over a few shoes, then I’ll take a break to move into a new home that is still standing with a wife who is still with me.
Life for me, though still not a dream, is not so bad after all.