A lady, a dog and my cousin Tim

I dreamed I was in an staying in an apartment with my cousin Tim and a lady who was a few years younger than us. She had dishwater blonde curls and a face that looked like rough hewn cedar, rugged but fair. "A truck," as Sharon would have indelicately put it. 

I was folding socks and practicing for my podcast while my cousin Tim was busy whittling a baby doll sized wooden garden cherub that was disturbingly realistic. This highly polished maple figurine evidenced an impressive talent, despite its mildly pedophilic pose.

"You been doing this for a while, Tim?" I asked. "This is the first I've seen."

"Yes, these are all mine," he said pointing to a row of pantsless infant statuary lined up on the kitchen breakfast bar. 

I got myself some orange juice, and the Truck asked me about my podcast.

"It's still in the preliminary stages," I confessed. "I need someone to produce it and help with the content." 

I knew my cousin Tim had some education in the communications field, so I asked him if he'd mind helping me spitball some ideas. 

"Sure, cousin," he said. "No problem. But if I get involved, I'm going to want full creative control." 

I thought this might be the case, so I hesitated. Just then some kittens came into the room, distracting everyone from what might have been a tense moment.

"Look at this cutie!" I gushed, picking up a tiny furball and pressing it to my cheek. The kitten rewarded me with some claws to my finger. "Ouch! Little Bugger!" I said, putting "Little Bugger" gently down on the carpet.

Later, I was out walking down by the docks on an oceanfront walkway reminiscent of the boardwalk in Marina del Rey. The truck lady was sitting in a cafe at an outdoor table with a golden lab at her side. 

"That's a fine looking animal," I commented, sitting down next to her.

"He's not mine," she said. "He comes with the territory." Before long, she got up to leave, and the dog stayed seated, looking up at me expectantly.

"All right, boy," I said. "You got me." I couldn't stand the look in his eyes as he saw me getting up to leave as well, so I grabbed his leash and untied it from the chair. "You're coming with me."

He wiggled all over with excitement as we strolled along the harbor. When we got to the boat docks, I saw the truck lady again, out on one of the little piers. I let the dog off his leash, and he bounded over to her, leaping across a gap between the pier and the boardwalk. I leapt after him, and we all had a tearful reunion, the dog licking both of our faces and me chiding the lady for leaving us so quickly at the cafe.

"I know," she said. "It was wrong of me to do that. I'm glad you brought him along. Someone's got to look out for him. He's pretty loyal."

We sat down at a table with some other people, the lady seated across from me. As we talked, our faces began to fall under the gravitational pull of mutual magnetic attraction. Soon we were practically nose to nose. It seemed only natural that we should kiss, so we simultaneously leaned in and shared a brief, exploratory smooch. 

The lady's features softened, and we tried another and another. This seemed nice, I thought, and she suddenly became very appealing to me. She and I (and the dog) stayed there on the docks for a while and made plans for later on.