I did a lot of study on dreamwork years ago. I still find that fascinating. I knew at the time I began reading about lucid dreams that there were dreams I'd had that were so startling, so real, that it was like I was there ... actually experiencing them with all the physical sensations we know in material reality.

The sensation of smell, in particular, seems to be uncommon in normal dreams, but in these "as real as real dreams" I could smell things (I hugged a friend of ours in one, and I could smell the tobacco on him. I said, "You've started smoking again," disappointed and worried. And several days later when talking to him on the phone I confirmed that this was true.)

I could feel the texture of things -- like the nubby yarn on a sweater my then-husband was wearing in another dream.

These dreams leave you with a totally different sensation when you wake than do normal dreams. Sometimes, their impact is stunning.

I had one a few weeks ago where one of my favorite dogs -- who died some 20 years ago -- came running past me while @catweasel and I were out for a walk on one of our favorite paths. And I called to him and he turned and came running back toward me ... jumping into my arms so overjoyed to see me -- and I could feel the heft and solidity of his body ... just as if this was real. And when I woke I was crying so uncontrollably that for a moment The Weasel was sincerely alarmed ... thinking I was in pain or something. And when I calmed down enough to tell him, "I got to hold Charlie again" ... he understood. He's had dreams like that, too.

I had another dream like that last night ... and more of my long-ago dogs were with me. Ones that I've loved and lost through the years. One from my childhood ... was with the others for a few minutes and then wandered off. I was looking for her ... calling her name, but certain she would be ok, and find her way back. (But still, I wanted to lay eyes on her and know for sure where she was.)

It wasn't nearly as dramatic as my "I got to hold Charlie again" dream ... but close. And it all seems to confirm my conviction that there are other realities ... and life never ends ... and what we call conscious reality is just the tip of a gigantic iceberg. Because not long ago, in my dreams, I got to hold Charlie again. And there's no convincing me that I didn't. None at all.