in my dream i was in a rambling old plantation-style house, it was my aunt's house, i guess. it was strange to find such a huge house in an urban area. her backyard was small but heaped with dark, rich earth and new plants sprouting in it, a large beautiful food garden, just waiting to blossom and produce fruit. what was odd about the growing plants was that it was an october day, too late in the season for new growth; thanksgiving. we came inside, to sit at a long table on her screened-in porch. the house smelled lovely, but it was cold on the porch. suddenly my grandfather sat at the table across from me, his fork and knife in hand. i said, "grandpa! you're alive!" he shook his head no, but smiled at me. suddenly an eerie wind kicked up, the screens started tearing at their frames and the door was slamming back and forth. my aunt was in the kitchen, i was alone with grandpa, the eaves were rattling, wind was howling through the rain gutters, lights were flickering on and off. i didn't feel afraid even though i knew it was the ghost of my grandmother creating the ruckus. grandpa heard my thoughts and said, "yes. she's jealous that tonight i am corporeal and her turn doesn't come for a long time." i tried to talk to her, to tell her that i would wait for her to appear, too, to not be angry. but she banged around the house still, overturning plates of food, tearing petals off the flowers in the thanksgiving bouquet, unearthing the roots of the food plants in the garden. grandpa just sat and waited for his dinner, looking eager and silly and smiling mischieviously at me.