I’ve been having trouble sleeping lately. Now that I don’t have to get up and go to work – or, honestly, even get dressed – before a certain time in the mornings, I’ve allowed myself to revert back to my natural night owl ways.
I blame my parents for this. Of course, right? Seriously, though, it is their fault. When I was little, my dad worked evenings. In order to maximize our family time, my mom let me stay up to see him after his shift. According to the family legend, we spent those late evening hours watching M*A*S*H and Barney Miller, which, now that I think about it, makes me feel a little better about the NCIS reruns Annalyn may have been exposed to.
Anyway, I’ve gotten in the rotten habit of staying up super late and then snoozing when Annalyn takes her afternoon nap. Then, on the rare night that I go to bed at a decent time, I just lay there. (Or is it lie there? For a grammar nerd, I sure can’t keep those two straight.) Wide awake.
A couple nights ago, as I was lying in bed wide awake, I heard it: a train whistle.
See, I’m afraid of trains. I have been for pretty much ever. As a young child, I had a recurring nightmare about being run over by a train . . . in outer space.
I know. I know! That doesn’t make any sense! What with the no gravity and everything, I’m pretty sure a train floating around in outer space couldn’t actually hurt anyone. Although . . . in one episode of Firefly (which takes place in outer space, in case you’re not as big a nerd as I am), a train was featured. A train in outer space.
Okay, while that is pretty far-fetched, you have to admit that trains are, indeed, dangerous. Just ask the scary, scary man who showed us a horrible video about train safety in the fourth grade.
Yes, the rumors are true. I did hide under the table during the whole presentation.
Based on all that craziness, you can imagine how excited I am when I can hear the trains from my house. Especially when said trains are located more than seven miles from said house! I should not be hearing them as I lay/lie in my bed at night! Apparently, given just the right conditions (wind blowing from the south? sub-zero temps? stars aligned?), sound travels and those train noises reach my house all the way up here.
Perfect. I literally live on the wrong side of the tracks.
Did I mention Annalyn’s recent discovery of PBS Kids and their many cartoons? In particular, Dinosaur Train? Ahem. Maybe you missed that. She loves to watch, every SINGLE morning, a show about dinosaurs who RIDE A TRAIN!
I’m kidding. It’s just a cartoon. It’s not actually giving me nightmares, unlike Scooby Doo of my childhood. (Right. Scooby Doo gave me nightmares, but M*A*S*H did not. I have no explanation.)
So, that’s my weirdness for the week. What’s yours? What makes you weird?
There’s no reason M*A*S*H should have given you nightmares–Alan Alda is the least scary person alive, right? Scooby-Doo, on the other hand…
Good point! ;)
You make me laugh. I have a friend who is afraid of butterflies. Like screams when they come near. That’s weirder than trains.
What makes me weird? I get sick to my stomach watching people eat chicken legs. I NEVER eat chicken legs. I will eat chicken wings but I pull the meat off the bone and NEVER touch the bone with my teeth. I served chicken legs to my family the other night as an act of love, because they are a favorite. I almost had to leave the table. Seriously.
I’m not going to lie – butterflies is definitely a weird one! Chicken legs are gross. I promise to never eat them in front of you. (or ever, really!)
Oh you are funny.
The car I drove before we got our massive van (private bus according to TX) had the dual climate control feature. When I was in the car alone I always set the temp the same on both sides, even though no one was sitting in the passenger seat. I just had to have it the same.
Also, I have many peculiarities about how I prefer to drink soda, based on the kind of soda and container and so on. Really too much to go into here. ;)
Well, you don’t want that passenger seat to get hot! ;)
Oh my goodness, you would HATE where I live. There’s a train track that runs right through the middle of town and about 75 trains a day go through here. Some are cargo trains, many are commuter trains into and out of Chicago. It’s crazy with the trains. And, yes, our kids are cautioned every year in school about the dangers of the trains, but it’s just everyday life around here. Mostly, it’s an annoyance when you get stuck by a train on the “wrong” side of the tracks.
Don’t even get me started on all the things that weird me out! :)
The weirdest part of all of this is that I grew up near train tracks, too. But my recurring nightmare started BEFORE we moved to that house! Crazy, right? I had to walk over those tracks to get to my good friend’s house. Now it seems crazy that I even did that!
Trains are actually calming to me. I lived with my grandparents for a while growing up and they lived *right* by the tracks. You’d see trains all day. So know trains always remind me of that and the comfort of being with my grandparents.
What makes me weird? I am terrified of swimming. I force myself to do it, but I hate it. And it’s all because of JAWS, Shark Week and a really bizarre phonebook commercial. Also, I’m totally freaked out by large objects, like cruises boats and displays in museums (like when they have a reconstruction of a boat or animal). I’ve once started hyperventilating in a museum that had a Viking ship hanging from the ceiling. My husband couldn’t help but laugh.
Large objects? That is interesting. I bet there’s a name for that particular phobia!?
SARAH. You have to look at this article I just saw. It’s funny all the way through, but look at #5 – a book called How to Avoid Huge Ships! I saw that and immediately thought of you and your unfortunate phobia!! :) http://www.cracked.com/article_18939_8-stupid-amazon-products-with-impressively-sarcastic-reviews.html
When I was little I fell on a slide and knocked my two front teeth loose…it ended up being fine, but now, every time I trip I quickly cover my mouth with my hand. It’s weird that I’d rather cover my mouth and protect my teeth, than break my potential fall.
Nikki, that’s terrible! And…a little funny. How did I not know this??
What makes me WEIRD? I have a strange nack for remembering numbers. My grandma died in 1992 and I still remember her phone number.
In my eyes, that is definitely weird. I am NOT a numbers person!
LOL… that is funny. I think what makes me weird is that I don’t like “buttons”….haha. I have no idea. Not that I can’t have them on a shirt but I dont’ wear buttoned up shirts… actually that is mainly becuase I hate how the shirts open up but I for some reason don’t like buttons.
As for watching “Mash”…that is too funny. My parents not only watched “Mash” but we also watched “All In The FamilY’ remember that one….. LOL… crazy. I will take NCIS over those any day.
I have to say, Anne, that I’ve never heard of someone having a thing against buttons!
Hehe, I have to admit, this is such a random post. :)
I’m pretty sure you lie there. It’s lay if it’s past-tense (e.g. “I lay in my bed for two hours before going to sleep last night”) or if it’s an object instead of a person (e.g. “I lay my clothes out every night”), in which case past-tense is laid (e.g. “I laid my clothes out last night”). Lie and lay ARE such a pain. I forgive people faster for those errors than I do for some others (one of my pet peeves is when people use “loose” for “lose” — and obviously the their/there/they’re and you’re/your thing:).
As for what makes me weird, how about carrying a Harry Potter broom through the airport and saying loudly, “Packed with muggles!”? ;) But if we’re talking about fears, I’m afraid of toilets. Hate those things, am always afraid they’re going to overflow!
Yes, it was random, thanks for noticing. :) I’ve been having a little bit of writer’s block, so I had to go to my list of random blog post ideas for this one!
Heehee you are so funny, love it. I don’t share the train phobia but I definitely have some weird phobias about tornadoes because of the Wizard of Oz. Seriously anytime a tornado watch even comes up, I freak out and hide in the basement even if it’s not for our immediate area. I just picture in my head a little white house swirling around in the tornado and me suddenly being stranded in a strange land. Wearing freakishly bright red shoes and clicking them together to no end, but without any luck and I’m being chased by some weird lion freaky person like thingy.
**shudders**
I have a friend who’s terrified of storms, especially tornadoes. After having been in one myself, I’m pretty scared of them, too – and we don’t have a basement!
There are too many things to mention that make me weird. My most common recurring nightmare is forgetting my locker combination in high school. Yes, somehow I turn that into a nightmare.
The way I remember lie and lay is that chickens lay eggs, so they are doing something to another object. When you lie down, you aren’t involving another object. That’s why it changes when you say, “Now I lay me down to sleep” because that sentence makes it so you are laying yourself down, just like laying clothes, or even an egg, on the bed.
Can you tell this was the real reason I commented? Just can’t help it. Oh, btw, that blogger on npr that writes kinda like you is Linda Holmes. She has a pretty good article about the golden globes and Ricky Gervais right now.
A high school locker actually sounds more potentially threatening than a train in outer space! ;) Good tip about lie/lay. I’ll TRY to remember! And I just bookmarked that NPR blog so I can check it out. Thanks!
Great post. Totally made me smile. Your touches of humor bring a much needed break to all this serious fearful talk. :) Thanks for that.
Blessings.