In the nightmare, I am new at the college, which is supposed to be the University of Illinois or SUNY Oneonta (both places I’ve worked), but looks like neither of them. I am halfway across campus from where I should be, and I have a class in twenty minutes. But then something goes wrong — I don’t have my computer or my class notes or I have to come up with a lecture in the next few minutes. I can’t find my office or, for that matter, the classroom because I haven’t been there all semester. I have no way of telling my students that I’m going to be late.

I suspect the dream is shaming me for being unprepared. But it has nothing to do with being unprepared. Right now my workload is light and I’m on top of it, being summer “vacation”. I just did my grading for the day. I will write later, after I water the plants on my porch. I might go out to Starbucks. I don’t have any “work work” I can do right now because my research is on hold till fall and I already have fall classes put together.

I suppose I feel guilty for relaxing. This is definitely part of what is known as the Protestant work ethic in the US — we have to be working or else we’re debased. I think I’ll put my feet up later and thumb my nose at the nightmare.