HomeARC ML 1461
THE SWEET-POTATO DREAM!--Delicious Entertainment Fun! DFO1461 France 20/5/80
1. I JUST WOKE UP & I'VE BEEN LYING HERE THINKING ABOUT THIS FUNNY DREAM I HAD! I can't see any point, rhyme or reason to it, but it's still very clear & maybe it means something, I don't know! I was travelling on this bus & it was pretty crowded. It wasn't a Greyhound but was more like an old gua-gua like they have in Tenerife & some of the Latin countries, kind of like my old school bus. It was zipping along, & since it was pretty crowded I had to stand up and hold on tight!
2. THE DRIVER WAS THE CUTEST LITTLE COLOURED GIRL, a pretty little coloured teenager, & she was really driving! I remember the bus was kind of funny because the steering wheel was right in the middle in the front & I never saw a bus like that before! But anyway, that's where it was & she was sitting up there in the bus driver's seat just driving away!
3. SHE WAS REALLY A GOOD DRIVER & WAS DOING GOOD while the bus driver was sitting back about halfway up the bus in a seat with a friend of his, smoking & gabbing. Apparently he just let this little teenage Negro girl drive so he could take a smoke break & enjoy a chat with his friend. Anyhow, I was thinking, "Wow, she really is a good driver!--She's sure driving fast, but she's driving well!"
4. SO THEN THE BUS STOPPED & AS I WAS GETTING OFF I PATTED HER ON THE SHOULDER & smiled at her & said, "You're sure a good driver! God bless you, that was good driving!"--And she looked up at me & smiled real cute & pretty like she really appreciated the thanks!--And I got off the bus & there were some people there to meet me.
5. IT WAS LIKE I WAS IN MY EARLY 20'S & I had gone back to what seemed like Oklahoma, to this big old-fashioned house, visiting these old friends. And this real pretty blonde lady about 40 or 45, she could have even been 50, met me with some of her teenage daughters.
6. I WAS THINKING, "WELL! THOSE ARE PRETTY GIRLS!"--And they were all kind of gazing ga-ga at me too, because I was handsome young fellow once upon a time! And as they were ushering me through the gate into the garden I looked around & said, "Boy, this place hasn't changed any in 20 years! It looks just like it used to!"
7. IT WAS A REAL PRETTY OLD-FASHIONED WOODEN-FRAME WHITE TWO--STORY FAMILY FARM HOUSE, like they used to have so many of in the States, with a pretty garden. So we walked into the house & I said, "You know, it hasn't changed a bit in 20 years!" She smiled radiantly like she was real pleased & said, "Yes, it's just like it's always been! It's always the same!" And I said, "Well, it feels just like home!"
8. I HAD THE FEELING I HAD LIVED THERE BEFORE WHEN I WAS A SMALL BOY ABOUT THREE & I said, "It hasn't changed since I was three-years-old!" I could remember the yard & the big old house & everything! Anyhow, we walked on into the house & I presume they had shown me up the stairs to my room because the next thing I knew I was taking a shower!
9. YOU KNOW ME, I'M NOT CRAZY ABOUT SHOWERS, I prefer a tub, but I was taking a shower, & it was the funniest thing! It was upstairs on the second floor level on a sort of a perch, like a bird's perch, & you had to stand on this beam or rod! So I was there trying to hang on to the soap & wash myself when all of a sudden the soap slipped out of my hand & fell clear down to the first floor! I thought, "Boy, this is pretty hard taking a shower on this perch!"
10. BUT ANYHOW, ONE OF THE PRETTY GIRLS CAME ALONG & SAW MY DILEMMA & picked up the soap & tossed it back up to me & I managed to catch it! I thought, "Wow, they're kind of free in this house! Here I am taking a shower out in the wide open up here on this perch & everybody down there can see me!" She kind of smiled coyly & mischievously at me & I thought, "Wow! I sure hope I get to sleep with one of those girls!"
11. WELL, THE NEXT THING I KNEW WE WERE AT THE DINNER TABLE, one of these big old-fashioned farm family tables, big dinner table eating one of those delicious old-fashioned Southern dinners! The father was there at the head of the table, the family was gathered around & I was sitting on one side with one of the girls.--And boy oh boy, I was eating something I really loved!
12. I WAS EATING AN OLD-FASHIONED BAKED SWEET-POTATO WITH BUTTER! Ummmmmmm, Yummy! It reminds me of what the old coloured lady said who was working for my Grandmother years ago. The dear old coloured ladies used to come in & do your washing or your cooking, even if they had a family, a husband & a home & lived out, they'd come in & clean house for you or do your washing & help with the cooking & things like that.
13. AND IN THOSE DAYS PEOPLE HAD DINNER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY & NOT AT NIGHT. The midday meal was the big meal because most of them had big farms & they worked hard from four or five o'clock in the morning & by noon they were really hungry so they had a great big dinner. And then in the early evening when they got back from the fields they'd eat an early supper about five or six o'clock which was a little bit lighter than the big one in the middle of the day, & it was called supper.
14. WELL, THE OLD COLOURED LADY WHO USED TO COME & HELP MY GRANDMOTHER HAD TWO LITTLE PICKANINNIES, two cute little coloured girls, & they'd come with her because she couldn't leave them at home & she couldn't afford a babysitter. So they just came along & played in the house & played with the kids & everybody was happy. There was no question of integration or segregation or prejudice or anything else, they knew what they were supposed to do & they did it!
15. THEY WERE REAL SWEET & WONDERFUL CHRISTIAN PEOPLE & REALLY LOVED THE LORD, always happy, laughing & singing! So the old coloured lady would stay for noon dinner because she worked there all day, & she was fixin' some nice baked sweet potatoes for the little pickaninnies!
16. I DON'T KNOW WHY WE CALL THEM PICKANINNIES, BUT THAT'S WHAT YOU CALL THEM! They always had their little black frizzy hair tied up in cute little pony tails with little ribbons on each one. They'd have about a dozen of these little pony tails sticking straight up all over their heads with a little white ribbon on it & they looked so cute!--Those great big brown eyes & great big white surrounding them & their eyes just staring at everything in this rich white home!
17. AND SO THE OLD COLOURED LADY WAS FIXIN'M A NICE BAKED SWEET POTATO like I was eatin' that night, she was fixin' this at my Grandma's, & the little pickaninnies were sitting at the table, big eyes rolling around, while my Grandmother was fixing the two little girls' sweet potatoes. You cut them in half & laid them on your plate with the skin side down & they're sort of a reddish gold colour. Oh boy, you'd cut'm open & they were steamin' & smellin' so good, so delicious!
18. SO MY GRANDMOTHER WAS STARTING TO SPREAD BUTTER ON THE POOR LITTLE CHILDREN'S SWEET POTATOES when the old coloured lady said, "Oh no no, Miss Nina, no no no no! Don't put any butter on those sweet 'tatas! I don't evah wan my little piccaninnies to know what the taste of butter is like on sweet 'taters!"--And my Grandmother felt so bad because she knew what she meant was that they couldn't afford butter at their house & therefore she didn't want the little girls to ever know how good it tasted on their sweet potatoes!
19. SO ANYWAY, WE HAD BUTTER AT THIS DINNER THAT DAY in my dream, & oh boy, I was elated to put a big piece of butter on the hot sweet potato! It would melt right away & you would mash it into the sweet potato & it was sooo delicious! You could even eat the skin & all, it was so good! Remember how good they were? (Maria: Well, I didn't really care for them.) You didn't like sweet potatoes? Oooh, I loved sweet potatoes!
20. THEY HAD ANOTHER KIND OF SWEET POTATOES DOWN SOUTH THEY CALLED YAMS, maybe that's what you're thinking about. They were much bigger & a little more yellow-gold colour & not quite as sweet. But they were a lot bigger, so we got more to eat, & us little boys loved yams!
21. BUT I LOVED THE SWEET POTATOES BEST OF ALL! Did you ever eat sweet potato pie? They always used to bake sweet potato pie for Christmas & Thanksgiving & any special dinners & they always put halves of walnuts all over the top of sweet potato pie, remember that? Oooh, it was so good!
22. SO I WAS SITTING THERE EATING THIS DELICIOUS SWEET POTATO WITH MELTED BUTTER ON IT! You mashed it into the sweet potato & it was sooooo good! I think I almost remember that more than any other part of the dream! Ha! The pretty girls were sitting around me & the Daddy seemed to be a nice friendly fellow, very hospitable, sitting at the head of the table & the Mother at the other end.--That's the way they almost always did in those days, & that's the way our family did--Daddy at one end, Mother at the other end & the children on both sides in between.
23. THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN WE HEARD WHAT SOUNDED LIKE A PLANE ROARING THROUGH THE SKY, so I looked up out of the huge big window of this big old-fashioned dining room & there came this van, sort of like a small-what's called in the States a panel truck--but with windows so it could carry passengers. Here it came hurtling through the sky with this guy driving it!
24. YOU KNOW ANYTHING'S POSSIBLE IN DREAMS & THIS GUY WAS FLYING THROUGH THE SKY IN THIS VAN! He looked like he was trying to steer it & guide it & it was coming right toward the house, but it just barely missed the house & landed right outside the kitchen in the back yard with a big crash! Everybody was startled, of course, & we all jumped up from the table to run out & see what happened!
25. IT DIDN'T SEEM TO HAVE WRECKED IT OR HURT ANYBODY & the people were pulling themselves out. The father said, "Well, it's a good thing I had all those tires lying out in the back yard to cushion his fall!"--And we all went back to dinner & that was that!
26. IT JUST SEEMED LIKE IT WASN'T TOO BIG OF AN EVENT, just kind of a surprise, like if an airplane landed in your back yard but didn't really crash & kill everybody. I don't know what in the World that means but it just happened & I'm telling you what happened! You know, with dreams anything can happen!
27. WELL, THEN I WAS LOOKING AT THIS SORT OF A BULLETIN BOARD NEAR THE FRONT DOOR. In the old days in the homes they always kept a bulletin board either in the kitchen or front foyer where you put little notices about different things or messages to people, remember? (Maria: Yes!) And there was this schedule of these meetings.
28. THEY WERE HAVING THESE SORT OF PENTECOSTAL MEETINGS IN THEIR HOME in this huge big living room every night, seven nights a week, & they were expecting me to preach! My mother had been there before & she was pretty Pentecostal in those early days of her ministry. She prophesied & interpreted & spoke in tongues & she had healings & miracles & all kinds of things!
29. APPARENTLY I'D BEEN THERE WHEN I WAS A LITTLE BOY, THREE--YEARS-OLD, & now I was about 23 & they were expecting me to do the preaching & to give some kind of a repeat performance of the kind my mother used to give!--And although I knew & loved the Lord & everything, I didn't feel like I was up to it!
30. IT WAS KIND OF LIKE MY EARLY TEENAGE YEARS WHEN I WAS VERY SHY & BASHFUL, I hardly ever took part in anything public. They had to do a lot just to get me to lead the singing, & I never preached or anything like that. And at this time while I was visiting this old farm house & these dear old friends, I seemed to still be shy like that & really not used to preaching! I thought,
31. "BOY, OH BOY, I CAN'T FULFILL THESE PEOPLE'S EXPECTATIONS! I'm not a preacher like my mother & I can't do miracles & prophesy!" It seemed like prophecy was the main thing & they were expecting me to prophesy. I thought, "Well, I just can't, I can't do that. I'm going to have to leave here or I'm going to disappoint them!" And I was thinking,
32. "BOY OH BOY, WHY IN THE WORLD DID MY MOTHER GO OFF & LEAVE ME HERE ANYHOW, & them expecting me to preach & prophesy--they're going to terribly disappointed! What am I gonna do?" So I thought, "Well, I've got a little money left in the bank & I could write a check on it & buy myself a little tiny car that wouldn't take much gas, real cheap second-hand, & I can drive to the nearest city & get me a job!" And then I was thinking,
33. "WELL NOW, LET'S SEE, WHAT KIND OF A JOB WOULD I LIKE? What kind of job could I get?" When I was young I was always worrying about what kind of a job could I get or what kind of a job could I hold if I had to go out & get a job? Of course most of the time I worked with my mother in the Lord's work as her chauffeur, & sometimes I had to sing.
34. BUT HERE I WAS WITHOUT MOTHER & EVIDENTLY NO JOB, & THESE PEOPLE WERE EXPECTING ME TO BE A PREACHER & A PROPHET! I just figured I couldn't fill the bill & I'd better get out of here before I get embarrassed & disappoint them! And I was thinking, "Well now, what kind of a job would I like? If I can pick my job, what would I like to do?" And it came to me,
35. "I THINK I'D LIKE TO WORK IN A NIGHTCLUB, like a dine-&-dance place!" I always thought those waiters looked so handsome in those uniforms with those napkins over their arms, & they always had a nice pretty show. My mother took me to one of those places a few times when I was young & I always enjoyed it. She liked to go to nightclubs once in awhile to see the show & have a good dinner.
36. WE COULDN'T AFFORD IT VERY OFTEN because most of the time we were pretty poor, but once in awhile we'd do that between meetings, & it didn't cost too much then. Dinner was about $5, but of course that was a lot of money in those days! But anyway I was thinking,
37. "WELL, I THINK I'D LIKE TO BE A NIGHTCLUB WAITER IN A DINE-&-DANCE PLACE WITH A SHOW! I'd see lots of pretty women & there's lots of nice music & you get to make a lot of friends & it's a nice job waiting on people, meeting lots of people & I think that's what I would like to do!"--And then I woke up! That's all I remember! Isn't that funny! (Maria: That was a nice dream--well, partly nice!) Ha! It's the funniest thing!
38. I GUESS THAT WAS JUST A MEANINGLESS LITTLE BIT OF ENTERTAINMENT TO MAKE ME FEEL GOOD! I was enjoying the pretty girls & I especially enjoyed my sweet potato, it was so good! It makes me hungry just to think about it right now! (Maria: You always say you love sweet potatoes!) I remember I was reading the paper last night about old-fashioned American breakfasts of pancakes, bacon & eggs, what the guy said they called a "$2 Whammy" in some restaurant in San Francis co.
39. I WAS THINKING, "WELL, I'D LIKE ONE OF THOSE MYSELF!" This guy was reminiscing about the States. Apparently he had come back from Europe after many years absence & was trying to visit all the old haunts & everything had changed, especially the people.
40. BUT I CAME BACK TO THIS OLD COUNTRY TOWN, this old farm house & these lovely old people & they hadn't changed a bit, except the girls were grown up & they were just as nice & sweet & friendly as ever, real hospitable! I don't know what the idea was of taking that shower on a perch where the girls could see me & tossed me back the soap, that was kind of funny!
41. AND THEN THAT VAN LANDED IN THE BACK YARD WITH A CRASH! It hit pretty hard & it shook'm up, but it landed! And that little coloured girl driving the bus & all that, of all the funny things to dream! I can't see rhyme or reason or any meaning whatsoever to that dream except it was a real nice feeling & nice dream & made me feel real good!
42. THE DOCTORS & SCIENTISTS SAY YOU SLEEP BETTER IF YOU DREAM. You sleep better & longer if your mind is occupied with something. So I sure have lots of fun when I'm sleeping!--What do you do? Maybe it's my comic-relief entertainment after a hard day's work! God's amazing!--He even shows you movies! (See "Cinema Cafe", No.1285.)
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
