This week, Managing Editor Carrie Kreisler’s top five ways in which dreams are bizarre. Next week, look for Executive Editor Ron Petak’s top five reasons bowling is better than golf.

5) Lack of memory
I wish I could remember more of my dreams. They can be quite fascinating – usually unrealistic, but interesting, nonetheless. It certainly helps to write down a dream when you wake up in the middle of one, but I’ve only taken the time to do so a handful of times. Because of a few dreams I’ve had lately, and because I’d like to remember them more and possibly learn if they could mean something, I’m going to try to write down my dreams more regularly. If I don’t, they’ll be gone in a flash.

4) The vividness
I rarely remember my dreams, but if I wake up right in the middle of a dream, sometimes it is so vivid I have to stop and take a minute to realize it is, in fact, only a dream. I have to check the clock and get my bearings because the location of the dream seemed so real. Also, even if my memory of the dream in general vanishes quickly, sometimes just one image will stay clear in my mind for days.

3) The unlikelihood
One of the strange, but kind of neat, things about dreams is they probably would never happen. When people say “dreams do come true,” they are referring to their goals, their desires, their hopes. My dreams, as in the thoughts and images that occur during sleep, never come true. This is mostly the case, not so much because of the actions taking place, but because of the people who would never appear together in real life (see No. 1).

2) The timing
Usually if I have a good night’s sleep, I don’t remember my dreams. However, if, as is the case lately, I don’t sleep well and wake up in the middle of the night, I will finally fall back to sleep – a light sleep – and then remember a dream I’d just had.

1) The people
Any time I remember a dream, I am astounded by who has shown up in that dream. A lot of times it is because I have just encountered that person or thought about someone whom I hadn’t thought about in a long time. Usually there is someone from my past in the same dream as people currently in my life. It is very unrealistic that these people would ever be interacting, but they sure are in my dreams.

This week, Staff Writer Debra Dowling presents her top five reasons to thank the French, in honor of Bastille Day, on July 14. Next week, look for Managing Editor Carrie Kreisler’s top five ways in which dreams are bizarre.

5) The language
    Ah, the sonorousness. Is there anyone on Earth who does not find spoken French melodic and beautiful to the ear? 

4)  Joie de vivre
    The French enjoy life. They don’t just stop to smell the roses, they plant flowers along the path and praise them in poetry and song. Even a picnic or sidewalk café feels like the canvas of fine art. In restaurants, I always found the service deft and understated and the food spectacular. Vive la France!

3) The wine
 No connoisseur, I, but I’ll take an inexpensive French wine over a medium-priced bottle from any other country any day. And we can thank 10th century monks, who were the first to take note of the  country’s rich soils. They discovered some parts of vineyards surpassed others, and parceled land by soil, subsoil and relation to the sun, creating the appellation process. An appellation gives an idea of which grape varieties comprise the wine. For example, Sancerre is Sauvignon Blanc, Bordeaux is Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and red Burgundies are Pinot Noir and white Burgundies are Chardonnay. Ah, the bouquet. A votre santé!

2) The food
    Whether you’re enjoying Crêpe Suzette or afreshly baked croissant with espresso, or sipping Chablis with coq au vin and a luncheon salad, there is something about French cuisine that makes you want to celebrate and savor. Bon appétit!

1) The Declaration of Independence
     It’s not a stretch to say that were it not for the French, the American Revolution would probably have ended differently. France infused desperately needed cash and nearly went bankrupt doing so (one of many factors leading to its own revolution starting with the storming of the Bastille a decade later). The French also lent  military aid throughout the war, up to eventual victory when Gen. Charles Corwallis surrendered. In fact, in 1781, five regiments of the French army marched south from Rhode Island to Virginia and joined the American forces under Gen. George Washington to finally defeat the British Crown forces at Yorktown.