Friday, December 01, 2017

Greek Helen has been in Kirkmichael for the last 48 hours, with the husband of the remarkable Romanian woman who cleans for both of us. Vasily is clearly fully as remarkable as his wife, and they – he – got a tremendous amount done. The idea is to clear out and spruce up and bring the house into a state wherein we could make it available for holiday letting so that it might pay its own way.

But today’s big news is that

she found my keys

Some of you will remember the story. They disappeared out of my hand in September, 2014. Both she and I were surprised to discover that it happened so recently. The story is told in my blog post of September 30, 2014.

The keys were in the awkward cupboard under the stairs, under vacuum cleaners and stuff. I’ve no idea how they could have got there.

I often think of them. I thought of them today, as I was leaving the supermarket and putting things in the untidy boot of the car. Could they be somewhere under that mess?

Two nights ago, I dreamt about them. I don’t remember that that has ever happened before. In the dream, they reappeared in my hand as mysteriously as they had left it. I tried to ask myself whether I had put on a long-unworn garment and found them in the pocket. Then I realised I was dreaming and tried to think of a way to keep hold of the keys.

When I was first in Glasgow, in 1954, I came across J.W. Dunne’s “An Experiment with Time”. His idea was – is – that dreams can draw their source from events about-to-happen as well as from the past. The book is still available from Amazon; I’m not going to read it again. But there you have, I think, as neat an example as Dunne could have asked for.

The keys, of course, have long since been duplicated and replaced. The source of today’s great joy, for me, is the recovery of the stag’s-horn fob which Rachel gave me when she was a little girl. I asked her, after the disaster, to give me another, and she did, but it’s not the same.


And for Helen, the removal of her fear that the keys would turn up after my death and renew her grief.

12 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:38 PM

    Is there any hope that Vasily May find the missing iPad? It’s been missing a long time, hasn’t it?

    I am so glad the treasured stag’s horn fob is back in your hand.....a lovely surprise.

    Barbara M. In NH

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  2. Delightful news!

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  3. When you wrote that the house was being cleaned my first thought was "I wonder if they will find the keys."

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  4. A dream come true!

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  5. =Tamar2:24 AM

    Hooray! And how cool, to have a prophetic lucid dream about it.

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  6. Well! Yes, very interesting, the timing of your dream. Glad you have the fob again.

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  7. This gives me hope of finding my own set of keys lost last Spring. I'm so happy to hear this news! And you have another story in your repertoire! (sometimes a good story is all we get out an occurrence. you got your fob back, too)

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  8. We need Vasily here - he is clearly the finder of lost things!

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  9. Oh, well done, Helen!

    Some years ago we realised at the last minute that we could not find our cottage keys as we set off north for our Easter visit. It was a bad moment, but easily solved as my sister in the north has her own set, so we just called in and borrowed those.

    In late December of the same year I took out the padded red Chinesey jacket that my husband always refers to as the Yak-herder - and there were the missing keys in the pocket. It's a garment only worn around Christmas, so long-overlooked by Easter.

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  10. Anonymous10:10 AM

    So happy for you Jean. Chloe

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  11. Anonymous11:38 AM

    Very glad those keys were found!
    And so interesting that you had a recent dream about the keys.
    I agree - the ipad should reappear any time now.
    LisaRR

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  12. wow. that is truly spooky and coincidental and all those feelings. although since you knew they were up there cleaning your subconscious mind was most likely working away thinking on those keys as it has always been a mystery for you... our dreams are intriguing. i just wish that my dreams of a new job and a new home would come to fruition in real life (alas neither has - my landlord is taking over my apt after 12 years and i have now lost out on four houses... and three jobs... not a good six months since he told me).

    ah well. watching strictly come dancing with susan calman this fall helped to cheer me up . but alas she is gone. and the dark of the winter descends.

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