Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This

Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This

As you have probably read in previous blogs, Max has some pretty bad nightmares.  I wonder what is disturbing him so as he sleeps.  Could it be his past unforgiving owner who dumped him with such little regard?  Could it be the many homes that turned him down before he found one with us?  Could it be the sight of me in a bathing suit?  I have no idea of knowing.

I do know my own dreams have always been very vivid.  Some of them have better storylines and plots than most major movies.  I have always planned to write them down after I woke up, but never did.  Maybe I should start doing that now.  I seem to have a newfound affinity for writing.  So realistic are these dreams, I sometimes find myself later in the day, or even months later, thinking it was a past experience.  While most of these unique dreams can be entertaining, it is with Max’s recurring nightmares that I think back on my own rerun REM sleep.

Teeth.  I have many recurring dreams with this subject, and none of them good.  I would find my teeth crumbling with ease.  In some cases falling out altogether.  It is not a painful dream, but there seems to be no way to stop it in my slumber.  While several dream whisperers have determined that this indicates stress, I have a simpler conclusion.  I have had a lot of work done on my teeth.

When I was 11 life was simpler.  My friends and I were able to walk to Green Acres shopping mall at a young age without concern of abduction.  Our parents trusted us enough to navigate the busy roads.  And I was able to always do so…except for one time.  And one time is all it takes.  As I crossed Central Avenue, parallel to the train tracks, a car made a left off of Sunrise Highway and onto Central itself.  He never saw me.  I was almost quick enough to get out of his way…almost.  I was hit in the butt, which was probably the best place to take the brunt of the auto.  Unfortunately, when I landed, it would be the worst.  I went face first into the curb (yes, I know it explains a lot) and my front teeth hit the concrete.  The teeth were chipped and root canal was on the horizon.

My dentist was of German decent.  My Grandparents came from the old country so they felt at home with his background.  Of course the Marathon Man had just come out in theatres.  My dentist’s heavy accent rivaled that of Laurence Olivier.  Every time he would say “Open Wide Please” I thought it would be followed with “Is It Safe?”  Luckily my dentist was just as skilled as his big screen counterpart.  The root canal went well and when I got older I would have the front teeth capped.  If you are not familiar with the procedure, what they do is file the existing teeth down to posts and the crowns are placed upon them.  I was not informed of this.  I suppose they did not want me to know the extent.  I was told after the filing to go rinse out my mouth in the bathroom since a simple Dixie cup would not do.  I was instructed not to look into the mirror.  Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s got no teeth left at all.  Yeah, he should have just said nothing…so of course I looked.  I was mortified.  My chipped teeth were gone all right but what was left was much worse to see.  Two tiny horrible remnants.  And that was when the teeth dreams started.

I have other recurring dreams too.  How they started I will leave to your own speculation.

Bridges.  I also have many recurring dreams with this subject, and none of them good either.  Some are simple, I am crossing a bridge on foot. The bridge seems to get longer and more complicated.  I never seem to get across.  In other dreams I am in a car and the bridge is not so stable.  The bridge will begin to collapse around me as I feverishly try not to fall to the water below.  When the bridge is sound, it is the wind that is my foe.  Recently I had a dream where I was crossing a long bridge.  I had a wind gauge in the dashboard of the car.  As I crossed, the wind was only slight…registering in the 20’s.  As I got toward the middle, it hit 57mph…but I had crossed this bridge before with these winds.  I felt a gust and suddenly the gauge read 85mph.  The car was blown off the bridge.  I could feel myself airborne.  I could see the bridge fading in the distance.  I soon found myself awake, sweating in my own bed.  No wonder I am always tired.

Airplanes. I also have many recurring dreams with this subject, and it only gets worse.  I am not afraid to fly even after my European Vacation (see blog).  I have even been behind the controls of a few craft.  However, my dreams have other plans for me.  I will find myself in a low flying plane.  It is shortly after takeoff and it is struggling to gain altitude.  The aircraft is in trouble and a siren is going off.  I had heard a myth that if you die in your dream, that you die in real life.  Well, eventually in one of my dreams the plane nosed in.  I felt it hit the ground and all went black.  Nothing.  And more nothing.  My mind said, well, I guess the dream is over…and I woke up.  So much for that theory.

High School Girlfriend.  I hope my wife doesn’t read this.  I am not sure when these started exactly, but it is safe to say it was after the last time I saw her.  The dreams were emotional, not sexual.  We were together, but not for long.  It would be a trip, a gathering or something of that nature.  The dream would never be the same, but it seemed to be in sequence until our next REM rendezvous.  We would always depart as each dream ended.  When I was awake in my regular daily life, if she were to come up in thought or conversation, I would think I had seen her recently.  But that was not the case.  In 2009, after 25 years and classmates.com, I reconnected with her.  We had caught up in real life.  The dreams would finally stop.

I wonder what it will take to stop Max’s recurring dreams.  It is tough, because he obviously can’t communicate what they are about.  I feel helpless when he is asleep.  All I can do is stand by him when he is awake.

Maybe one day that will be his only dream.