Manhattan Transfer

Two years ago I had a dream. I was at a first communion which was taking place on a dock for some reason. Across a stretch of water, I noticed my father, so I got up from the pew, jumped into the water, and swam across to him. Afterwards, my father and I went to a party in a dockside eatery near where the first communion took place.

The dream was so vivid that I ended up telling my friend Sully about it the next day. He asked for some more details about the setting and decided I had dreamt of Broad Channel, a little island community in the middle of New York City's Jamaica Bay. So the following day I skipped work and took the subway out to Broad Channel.

It was summertime, and most of the residents were enjoying themselves out on the bay, so the island felt abandoned. We walked around until we found a small saloon. The bartender was a woman in her middle ages. She had gone past being motherly but was not yet grandmotherly. The only other customer was another woman, and old friend of the bartender.

After a couple of drinks with them, I told them about my dream. They decided that the dream was a sign from God. It certainly had sacramental elements. Baptism, communion and, in their opinion, the party was a wedding. This meant I was supposed to marry a girl from Broad Channel. They offered to help arrange this.

I hadn't thought a lot about my trip to Broad Channel since. I had planned to go back but the opportunity never seemed to arise. What's more, I was not convinced that Broad Channel was the community of my dreams. There are other seaside and bayside New York City communities I thought I needed to visit before I could know for sure.

The wonderful spring weather we've been having and Youngna's recent visit to Broad Channel, however, got me thinking that it's probably time to return.