Last night I didn't sleep well. I kept having dreams. Not frightening dreams. Disturbing. Weird and confusing.

My back's been acting up so I had to adjust my sleeping position. Maybe my slumbering mind didn't like what it was seeing from the unaccustomed perspective.

After nights like that the dreams sometimes hang onto me like a thick morning fog that won't dissipate. Somewhere above the sun's been shining for hours but down in the fog it's still twilight. I feel out of sorts and vaguely uneasy, even though I can't recall most of what went on.

One episode remains in my memory. I needed to make a phone call. I had to press "9" for an outside line, but then I was unable to begin pressing the right buttons for the rest of the number fast enough. Almost immediately the tinny voice of an operator began telling me I had taken too long. When I tried to hit the buttons more quickly I couldn't find the right ones and the grating (demoniac?) voice would chide me for that.

The number I needed to call began with 281. Very mysterious. That has no connection to any number or address with which I'm familiar.

Google tells me 281 is an area code for Houston, Texas. I have never been to Houston. I don't know anyone there. Why would I dream that I had to call Houston?

I hope it doesn't mean we have a problem.