09/29/2026
I had one of those dreams last night.
After 31 years as a nurse, I still occasionally have the nursing dream. If you’re a nurse, you probably know the one. You’re at work and suddenly realize you haven’t checked on your patient all day. Instant panic.
Last night’s version had a little Petaluma Gardens mixed in. 😂
In my dream, I had picked up a night shift in the ICU. I was late getting there, everybody was ready to go home and trying to give me report, and the whole time I kept thinking, Why did I pick up this shift? I haven’t worked in an ICU in years!
And then, right in the middle of report, another horrifying thought hit me:
Oh my gosh. I have 375 flower plugs coming tomorrow and the field isn’t ready. Now I can’t even sleep after work because I have to get those flowers planted!
Apparently my subconscious decided nursing stress and flower-farming stress needed to meet. 😂
I woke up completely stressed out. It actually took me a few minutes to realize…
Wait.
That was a dream.
I do NOT have to work night shift tonight.
I can go back to sleep.
And tomorrow I get to work with my flowers.
And lying there, I thought about how telling that really is.
I loved being a nurse. I’m proud of those 31 years, and I’m grateful for the life and career I had. But nursing carried a kind of responsibility and stress that apparently burrowed deep enough into my brain that, years later, it can still find me in my sleep.
Flower farming certainly has stress. Right now I’m getting fields ready for fall planting, watching the calendar, worrying about weather and timing, and wondering whether those 375 plugs will give me blooms for Christmas arrangements—or make me wait until January, February or maybe even Valentine’s Day.
There’s always something to worry about when you grow things for a living.
But I realized something this morning:
I don’t think I’ve ever had a nightmare about flowers.
I’ve laid awake thinking about them. I’ve woken up making a mental to-do list. I’ve worried about rain, heat, frost, weeds, planting dates and a hundred other things.
But they’ve never haunted my dreams.
I’m glad nursing was such a big part of the earlier years of my life. And I’m equally grateful that at this stage of life, I found something else I’m passionate about.
It still comes with stress.
It’s just a different kind of stress.
And apparently, when I wake up and realize I get to go work in a flower field instead of reporting for night shift in the ICU…
I’m pretty happy with how this chapter turned out. 🌸