Recurring Dreams

Over the course of my life I have had a lot of dreams that can only be described as "strange".    They cover a lot of subjects but I have some dreams that have a definite recurring theme.  The first is a pretty common one I understand.  Snakes.  I dream of snakes on a regular basis.  I'm never harmed by the snakes but they are EVERYWHERE.    I'm never harmed by them but I am always 'disturbed' when I wake up after one of these dreams. 

The second recurring scenario is suddenly appearing high, sheer drop offs.  They mostly do not start in a high place or around a sheer drop but the drop suddenly appears.  I never fall but I'm often very frightened (in the dream)  and, out of the dream, I've very happy to wake up.  That one, in it's own way is more frightening than the snakes.

The third one, and the one I'm going to talk most about today because it is one I had last night is the dream of high water/floods.  For some reason these dreams are never frightening and they are the ones I have the most often.  I cannot remember when they started but they have been happening for years in one incarnation or another.

The first one I can recall was of me standing on the end of the bridge over the Levisa fork of the Big Sandy river on Route 40 going into Paintsville, Ky.   I was always on the side away from the town at the place where  Chick's restaurant used to be.  (wonderful broasted chicken).  There was always a great deal of debris around the near bridge pier and I was standing at the edge of the flood and I was always searching for something. 

Some years later I had a dream where I walked across the bridge to the Paintsville side and stood looking at the flood waters that filled the low place between the bridge and the first buildings (at that time) of the town.  After that I never had the dream again.  That has been many years ago now.

But, that was not the end of my dreams of high water.  The greatest number of them are placed on Nat's Creek.  Up the "Julie Fork" near where Julie Ratliff lived.  You'll have to forgive me because nobody but me probably has any idea where these places are.  I guess that is not important.  But, it is a location I've been familiar with since I  was quite young.  Does not really exist any more as they strip mined that area years ago and build a couple of large lakes in that area. 

But just down the creek from the Julie house the creek was narrow and clear (since it was used as the road).  It was very shallow and not too far below her  house a small  pipe came out of the side of the road and had water flowing out of it constantly.  If I recall correctly it had a mild sulphur content and I loved to stop there and have a drink.  From the time I could not have been more than five or six until I was an adult.  I always stopped there for a drink.

Predominantly, this is the location of my flood dreams.  This or a location that is very much like it.  It is most always a narrow stream and the water is always about chest high and muddy.  Sometimes I'm walking through it and sometimes I'm driving through it.  And, once again, I'm always searching for something or going someplace I do not actually recall during these dreams.  They happen fairly often.  Several times a year I'd say.

Last night was different but it concerned high water.  I was very young in this dream and at the house site where my grandparents lived.  They lived up on a small bank above the creek bed where water could never get but on the creek bank below there was a flood more than once a year.  Sometimes the water got up pretty  high for a while.  In this dream the water was very high and covered the garden area on both sides of the old drive to the creek.  This part of the creek was also used as the road when I was growing up so when we would go to my grandparent's house we would have to drive through the creek for several hundred feet.  The road continued in the creek another few hundred feet on the way on up Nat's Creek.

It had to have been winter (in the dream) as the water was surrounded by patches of snow here and there though I do not remember being cold.  Then, all of a sudden the water was all gone and I walked down the hill by  where the coal house should have been.  I did not really realize it until some time after I had awoken but the coal house was not there.  I have no idea what kind of significance that might have.  But, I went on down to the creek bed and there was no water there either.  Like it had all just drained away. 

Now, at that age I'd have never really thought of it but in the dream I realized there must be something up stream that was damming it  up and stopping the flow of water.  So, I started walking up soggy creek bed toward the old house where I was born (just above where the road came out of the creek) and when I got a little way above Poppie and Grannie's house I could see a high "dam" of ice completely blocking he flow of the water.  And, the water was starting to slop over the top and I 'knew' it would soon break the dam and a massive wall of water would come rushing down on where I was standing.



Other than what I've mentioned I often dream of my father but I never (EVER) dream of my mother.  Is that odd or do I just not know the psychology behind it?    I'm sure there may be some kind of logic behind our dreams but I surely do not know what it is.