It seems like the older I get, the more I am remembering my nightly dreams.  Of course, I don’t think I’ve had a good night’s sleep since 2005, but that’s a different story.

Dreams are a common  – and necessary – part of everyone’s nightly sleep cycle.  They happen during the REM (rapid-eye movement) portion of a nightly sleep cycle.  Your body shifts from REM to non-REM sleep many times during the night, and – as it happens – you dream many times during the night as well.

Most of the time, you won’t remember any of these dreams, but sometimes you remember bits and pieces.  Some people (like my wife, for example) vividly remember large portions of their nightly dream cycle, while others (like myself), usually just remember vague themes of what was going on.

For example, there’s the “heavy legs” dream.  I used to have these all the time, where I was having difficulty walking in my dreams.  My legs just wouldn’t work.  In some of these, I’d actually crawl to my destination.

There’s the “server’s nightmare”, where there’s a large room filled with customers and the dreamer is the waiter or waitress, but can’t seem to get any food out to the tables or satisfy any guests.

I’ve had the ever-popular “late for class” one, where I show up late to a class, only to find out that I’ve never been there all semester and today’s the day of the final exam.  Sheesh.

I’ve also had dreams where I could fly.  It seems quite easy – at least in my dreams.  A little harder back here in reality.

Anyway, back to my recent batch of nightly shenanigans.  We recently pulled the padded mattress topper off of our bed, and so now, I’m not quite used to sleeping on the firmer surface – so cue the weird dream machine.

I’ve recently dreamt that I was stuck in a jail cell with the ‘Brady Bunch’ family on their way to their Grand Canyon Adventure.  Now I know that the keys were left by the old prospector on a post we can reach by tying our belts together, but no one is listening to me.  Honestly, I just want to get to the Native American celebration so I can be given an Indian name by Jay Silverheels (who was ‘Tonto’ on “The Lone Ranger”).  Peter may not have wanted to be called “Middle Buffalo” or “Sleeping Lizard”, but I sure would.

Or there was the one where I was grocery shopping with Courtney Cox.  No, not the “Friends” version, but the “Family Ties” version.  While in the aisles, my 4^th grade teacher rolls by us on a bicycle and says “hello”.  Oh, did I mention it was raining inside the store – except for the aisle that we are in?  Meanwhile, every time I look in the cart, my selections keep disappearing.  I swear I’ll never get out of here.

Of course, all of this seems completely plausible – in dreamland.

Do you remember any crazy or vivid dreams (that you’d be willing to share)?  Drop me a line in the comment section below!