A few days ago I had a prophetic dream/nightmare that Cal had collapsed when I was lost in Las Vegas.  Sometimes dreams can also bring dream angels to your life.  This is what happened yesterday when dream angels suddenly appeared and made my nightmare into a positive experience.  Cal and I had wanted to go to the Minnesota State Fair on Labor Day but with predictions of rain we decided to go on Saturday even though the crowds would be bigger and the temperature warmer.  It was my 4th fair visit this year.   We got there at 9 am expecting fewer crowds and cooler temps, neither of which was the reality mixed with high humidity.   We had planned on renting an electric cart but with the swelling crowds thought it would be too hard to maneuver.  We brought our own sustainable water bottles and thought we were drinking enough.  Cal's leg is sometimes wobbly so he held on to me when we walked.  We did have a wonderful time doing all the usual fun fair things and eating some of the usual foods.  After 4 hours we decided to make our way back to the bus area as it was very hot and sunny.  

 

Suddenly Cal's whole body started shaking violently and, even though he was holding onto me, I couldn't hold him up.  He fell rather gently the way a Yogi does, but at 84 any fall is traumatic.  Suddenly we were surrounded by 2 young Dartmouth medical students who immediately took over.  They got him into a shady spot and sat him down.  They asked him all the stroke questions and took his pulse.  Two other young women from Rochester, Minnesota bought him water and took care of me as I was worried about Cal's health and how we would get him home.  The medical students and their extended family were so helpful, and they may have been the dream angels from my scary dream.  They called the paramedics and soon an official police golf cart came with police paramedics.   Cal was telling everyone how beautiful they were and asking them to come to his Zen Buddhist Center.  He was laughing and joking the whole time.  I was telling everyone that they were doing a mitzvah.  They escorted Cal and I into the police golf cart and long goodbyes were said all around to the Dartmouth medical students and their family and the two women from Rochester.  We then drove through the huge crowds with a loud siren and were taken to a medical facility near the 4H building.  Once there the new paramedics took Cal's vitals and asked the standard questions.  Cal was bubbly and radiant.  He kept saying, "it doesn't get any better than this."

 

After awhile Cal felt well enough to leave and we were taken by an escort van through the back roads of the fair where people camp and set up booths.  It was very interesting to see.  The van dropped us off at the U of MN bus and we got home without incident.  The whole experience was in sync with Cal's writing about difficult experiences as spiritual teachings.  So Cal had a terrible, not so horrible but good very wonderful day.