Thursday, January 6, 2005

Bridges Part II

Like I was saying, I don't trust bridges. Never have. I know they serve useful purposes like allowing you to cross rivers and such without getting all wet or drowning and such, but I still have a thing about bridges. Maybe it's this weird dream I used to have.

When I was a lot younger, I remember having this strange dream about a bridge. Now, I know, you're thinking that I thought it was real and later realized it was a dream. But, I seem to recall always knowing it was a dream. It's not like I woke up and thought the dream had really happened. No, when I work up, I knew it had been a dream. But, I'd have the dream again. And I'd dream a little more each time, waking up only slightly later in the sequence of events each time. I wouldn't have the same dream each night. I might have the dream one night and then not have the next dream until days, weeks, or even months later. But the dream would replay and go a little further each night. Like a Twilight Zone episode or something.

We would be riding along in a car. Now, I'm not quite sure who "we" were, other than me and others. I assume they were family members. Parents and siblings or something. Anyway, we'd be riding along, and I'd be in the back seat, trying to look out the window. I was small, so it would be looking up to look out, you understand. Anyway, we'd be riding along, and then come to a body of water. I think it was the Atlantic Ocean. So maybe we had ridden over to Brunswick or Jekyll Island or something. Anyway, there was the ocean. And they were building a bridge. And it was a tall bridge. It was built like a flattened arch, long and higher in the middle. And it was still under construction. This is where I remember waking up the first time.

In later dreams, the entire dream would start over and we'd get to this point, and it would go a little bit longer, with me waking up later and later into the dream. Anyway, the bridge was still under construction. But then cars were driving on it. And our car started driving on it. The bridge was to go over the water. Not to an island, but all the way over the ocean. To France or something. The bridge was across the ocean. So we took the bridge. And, since it was still under construction, it ended part of the way across. And I saw cars drive off the end of the bridge and disappear. I never saw them hit the water or ground or anything. And we never reached the end of the bridge and drove off or anything. But I didn't like the fact that they were still building the bridge and letting people drive on it before it was finished.

It was a strange dream and it just reinforced my distrust of bridges. When I'm driving today and encounter a large bridge or a really high bridge, I still think about that dream. I am fully aware of how silly something like that is, but I still get a queasy feeling every time I wind up going across a tall or long bridge.

I think I'm scared I'll end up in France.

4 comments:

  1. I feel the same way about bridges too. I know that mine came from the night Richard Nixon (at least I think it was him) was elected and this drunk captain ran his boat into the Sidney Lanier Bridge--the one going to Jekyll Island. All those cars fell in the water and all those people drowned--scared the daylights out of me! It was almost as bad as those ants on Twilight Zone--remember them?? The crash was important enough that CBS interrupted the election coverage to tell about it. Gave me the creeps. I still sweat and hold my breath every time I crossed that bridge. It is closed now--they have built a bigger, higher, longer bridge for me to pass out on should I EVER decide to visit Jekyll Island again.

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  2. Yes, it was the night of Nixon's re-election, November 7, 1972, when the African Neptune hit the bridge. 10 cars went down.

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  3. Dang, I was about to comment, then I saw your punchline.

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  4. I had the "driving off of an unfinished bridge" dream A LOT when I was a child. Only we fell and went into the water, (it wasn't painful...only scary) but as I was going down and the water was covering my head (like jumping into a pool)...I would always wake up. I don't love bridges, but I am not really frightened of them, I just have a healthy respect of them. However, I do not like jumping into the deep end of the pool to this day, and I will never learn to dive.

    PING:
    TITLE: Stale Coffee and Donuts - 1/7/2005
    BLOG NAME: FlashBang
    Links for today

    1. Missed this, but it's funny. At least, to me.
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