My first lucid dream: A Tale of Fire and Ice

I have always been fascinated by dreams.  I think everyone should be, considering we spend 1/3 of our lives having them.  For the last couple years, I have been trying to induce a lucid dream.  Which in the most basic of terms is being aware of what is happening while in a dream state.  Yesterday morning, I achieved this long time goal and couldn't be happier.

I awoke at 8:30am.  Knowing that I had another hour to sleep in, I decided to nod off to dream land once more.  The following occurred at some point between 8:30am and 9:30am.

I am walking down the main street of my home town of Ripon, California, when all of a sudden, I am "awake". I look at my hands and at my surroundings and realize that I am dreaming.  I decide to put my imagination to the test, seeing as how I could wake up in my bed, at any second.  I look over across the street to see one of the big, caged tow trucks used for transporting multiple cars at a time.  I point my hand toward it in a Magneto-ish fashion and think "BEND THE METAL".  The metal of the truck bends backward.  Then I think to myself, "SPRAY FIRE".  The twisted steel then spews a stream of fire on to the tree next to it.  I am amazed by this.  I decide to go further. I continue walking down the street and see a man selling fruit or trinkets of some kind.  He looks like a less attractive Paul Rudd.  I think to myself, "FREEZE HIM". I point my finger at the stranger and concentrate on an icy mist spraying out of the tip of my pointer finger. At first, nothing happens.  I get closer to him and concentrate harder. A little spray of ice releases.  I get even closer, to the point where I'm inches away from him.  I think to myself again, "FREEZE!". An icy mist comes out and freezes the man in his track.  This is awesome! Anything is possible.  Now it's time to fly.  I run and jump in to the air.  I stay floating for a bit, like I'm on the moon, but eventually float back down to the sidewalk. I try a few more times but can't seem to get off the ground long enough.  Maybe I need to be higher up.  I start to climb a tree in order to get on to the roof of a building.  While I'm doing this, I notice a family in a backyard looking up at me in shock.  It's around this point that I awake.

I can't even begin to describe the feeling of this new found freedom.  I can only hope that it becomes a regular occurrence.  My imagination is a lot bigger than just blazing trees and freezing Paul Rudd look-a-likes.

Another detail to add is that I was waking up at 9:30 to attend a family event.  Keep in mind, at this point, I have not told anyone about my dream.  While there, one of my cousins that I have not seen in 4 months, mentions in passing:

"I have a photo of you on my phone."

Me: "What's the photo of?

"You, climbing a tree."

Dream on, dreamers.

-Dom