I woke up in the middle of the night because my partner, bless her, has a range of well presented and obviously elegant eccentricities. One of them is she can start laughing out loud in the middle of the night and then just carry on sleeping. It can wake me up and set my mind in gear, but, in the morning, when I ask her what amused her the nonplussed expression makes me realise that she had as little idea as I did. She’s just a ” Sleep Laugher” however you spell that.
Sometimes when I’m in one room and she is in another I will become aware of a murmuring. “Sorry. What was that” I shout out. More murmuring until I finally get up and walk down the passage to our bedroom where she is doing some urgent grooming. I repeat my question. “Shall we have chicken tonight” she says but now I can hear her and all is clear. It’s an endearing eccentricity and part of those little idiosyncrasies which bind couples together.
When you get into the depths of people’s characters and habits they can be as odd as it is possible to imagine. It almost another way of deep-sea diving or space flight. No doubt we are, in some way, as mysterious to ourselves as we are to others.
Possibly I may well not be entirely free of eccentricities despite the valiant coaching of many friends and loved ones but I cannot tell you what they are. The strange thing is that people seem largely unaware of their own oddness. They consider their behaviour perfectly normal while looking askance at the antics of others. In the main I have a tolerant view of human nature and feel that, on some occasions, we all drink freely from the cup of madness. Unless the results are pernicious I don’t really care. Once they have been welcomed to the CD hall of acceptance I just nod at their waywardness and regard it as part of the weather pattern of my world.
Thats me. Possibly as a measure of self preservation all forms of oddness are welcome here as long as they are not pernicious. What is pernicious then? Well. don’t get me started on that one, otherwise you’ll start calling me an opinionated windbag and that just won’t do.
countingducks 
Women do tend to have a more vocal dream state. My first wife had nightmares, which staying at motels as we would travel the country ALWAYS made for jolly inn entertainment. My current wife has more like your partners, soft musings that I hear, well, they arent quiet musings, just low decibal screams. I will pat her rump telling her the axe wielding assailaint has stopped chasing her and then that stops that.
As far as me and lifes oddities. I eat food on my plate in a special dance order. I eat the starch first, then the meat then the peas, usually the best item in the middle; meat, seafood, lasagna whatever, the middle of the bunch next than the less favorable last. Clear?
Yeah, I am normal.
LOL
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Lovely posting 🙂 and very human. I sometimes have those laugh dreams too 🙂 but my husband snores louder. It doesn’t wake him up.
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Ah bless her 🙂 I don’t think I do anything too werid but snoring stresses me out!
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As you know, I have issues, so my endearing little “quirks” are too numerous to name–especially as they involve food and my OCD crap.
However, I do find that I am slightly hypersensitive to the glaringly obvious ones I’m exposed to on a constant basis. I used to share an office with someone who would always have headphones on and always laugh through his nose, perhaps thinking a) this was quieter than actually laughing or b) not thinking at all. It drove me nuts, but then again, I have my own issues. Don’t we all?
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I too drink freely from the cup of madness. What a great line you wrote! I’m sure I have my quirks–I think I’m poirfect, but loved ones reassure me that I’m definitely NOT. I have to believe them … after all they know me and my quirks too well.
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I have never heard of ‘sleep laughing’! It sounds spooky. I like your turns of phrase, especially ‘despite the valiant efforts of many friends and loved ones’, and ‘urgent grooming’. I do enjoy these gentle, observational posts you write.
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I think we all have our quirks as individuals.. but it takes that special person to still love us despite of those things. Beautiful post
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Lovely post, beautifully and affectionally put.
Thank you for the smile.
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My hubby talks to himself all the time, often in the bathroom mirror, like he is giving himself a little pep talk. I used to think it was seriously weird, but now it just makes me smile.
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Sleep is a curious thing, I have an older brother who always woke up fighting, spent many years myself happily “snapping to” right away but now wake up slowly… am told I snore… alas… imperfection, the joys of being human, LOL LOL
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Did you ever consider that maybe you are telling jokes in YOUR sleep?
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–I have several eccentricities, which Mr. Liverpool knows quite well.
We all do, which makes us beautifully & magically unique.
But some of those little quirks drive me INSANE! Do you agree, Ducky?
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Men grind their teeth!
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Great post. (BTW, I am Shonnie’s husband–she talks about you all the time.) Those little quirky things really to make a relationship unique and special, and after almost 24 years of marriage, I wouldn’t change them.
Funny sleep habit: My daughter used to beat up my son-in-law in their sleep when they were first married. He got to where he had to sleep on top of the sheets just not to be battered. One day, when they were sharing the story at a family get-together to the utter amusement of all the listeners, he replied “It sounds like it is funny, but it is not!” This was greeted with raucous laughter from all of us because it was definitely funny! ;D
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That made me smile. Very nice to see you here.
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It so nice to have such a post today. Thank you Ducky.
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In our family it’s always a challenge to see who gets the prestigious ‘dysFUNctionality’ award each year.
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