Saturday, September 13, 2003

Nonsensical nightmares

I had a string of nightmares Thursday night. I'd have one, wake up, try to settle my mind, go back to sleep, have another one, wake up, etc. I ended up getting only a coulple hours of rest, so I went to work late Friday morning.

Upon attempting to explain my dreams to other people, they may not seem like nightmares, but trust me, they were. Each was based around a task I was unable to accomplish. It was either an exceedingly simple task that was somehow insurmountable in the dream (like tying my shoelaces) or a nonsense task that I'd try to sort out even though doing so should have been obviously impossible (like making an antelope sprout grapefruit). They were all very unsettling.

In one dream, Misty and I were unable to name our baby. I don't mean that we couldn't decide  on a name — I mean we literally couldn't name it. We were trying to figure out how, and it seemed we'd have to undertake a series of quests in order to secure a name. It was as if some curse had befuddled us.

Another dream had me trying to make a deposit at the bank, and I couldn't see how I was going to manage to do it. I knew how — it just seemed like it was something I'd never be able to accomplish.

I can't remember the nonsense dreams, but I've had them before, and they're the worst. It's like trying to add 2+2, knowing  the answer is 3, yet being unable to arrive at anything but 4. When I wake from this type of dream, I find myself continuing to try to sort them out. But in a state of half sleep, I fail to recognize that the tasks are nonsense, so I keep struggling with them even after the dream is over. I have to fully wake up in order to clear my head. But after doing that, it takes a while to get back to sleep.

I've heard that food can sometimes effect dreams, and I've decided that such a notion is true. Since my nightmares were accompanied by headache, heartburn, and other internal unpleasantries, I have attribuited them to something I ate during the day. The slice of Tombstone Pizza I had for dinner seems the most likely culprit. Its name says it all.

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