JENN McKINLAY: What is your most irrational fear? I’m asking because at the moment I'm trying to work and I have an American Staffordshire Terrier (pitbull)/Australian Cattle Dog mix, hiding under my desk and shaking so hard she’s rattling the pens in their cup because...are you ready?...it’s windy!
Granted, it’s a fairly aggressive breeze out there but, come on, Annie, you are a ferocious beast -- not really, she hides under the dining room table when anyone drops an F bomb -- surely, a little wind isn’t that terrifying.
*Jenn glances under her desk to see a pile of pitiful fur needing a hug*
Give me a sec, I’ll be right back. Okay, girl dog has gotten loved on and is now calmer so I can continue my post. Watching her, I tried to think of my most irrational fear. Sharks leap to mind (thanks, JAWS), but I’d argue since they actually can eat you, it’s not irrational, you know, unlike the wind.
So, what else do I have in my boogeyman closet? Well, true confession time, I am petrified of basements. I will not go down in one. Ever. Now, I don’t mean finished basements, where there’s a bar, a bathroom, and a big screen TV. I’m talking those single lightbulb on a string, wasteland of broken stuff, dirt floor, spider hostels, you know, the stuff of nightmares. Which is just silly. I mean it’s only a room in the ground, right? Ridiculous to have heart palpitations and sweaty palms just because you have to go down there to find an extension cord or whatnot. This is probably why I live in a ranch built on a slab of cement. No basement option!
So, how about you, Reds, what’s your irrational terror?
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Well, I had to think about this. Roaches, certainly, any kind of shiny bugs that skitter really fast. Or have lots of legs, like a centipede! Yes, I hate centipedes! But I’m not sure that’s irrational, that seems quite logical.
Basically I am more of an Undertoad person. Remember from Garp? I have a deep fear of the thing happening that I cannot imagine, some horrible random terrible thing.
Okay, I’m not thrilled with rats or spiders or generic bugs of any kind, but more and more I’m sort of fascinated by them instead of afraid.
HALLIE EPHRON: Lightning. I’m afraid it’s going to come inside. And don’t tell me it can’t. It can. I run around and unplug appliances and make everyone get off the phone (we still have a landline) and out of the bathtub. Close windows. At the same time I’m fascinated. Once I’ve battened down the hatches I raise the shades and turn off the lights and watch. Counting after each strike to gauge how far away it is.
RHYS BOWEN: I hate to confess but I’m scared of the dark. If I go downstairs at our house in California I have to rush to find the light switch. I need a crack of light coming through the blinds when I sleep so I can see my way around the room. And spiders. I hate spiders. But I’m a good girl and put a glass over one I find in the bathtub ( unless it’s too big and hairy) and release it outside.And moths. Hate moths, the way they flutter at you.
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Oh, Jenn, if you ever want to terrify you, I have a cellar here that’s made for your nightmares. Dirt floor, ill-lit, stone walls and the debris of 200 years of ownership, including a huge boiler that looks like something out of The Shining.
My irrational fear is pretty standard - I’m arachnophobic. A photo of a spider gives me the damp sweats and heart palpitations, and will cause me to slam shut whatever I’m looking at, never to return. Just typing this is making me anxious you’ll out a spider picture up here - please don’t, Jenn!
Interestingly enough, now that I have presbyopia and can’t see anything up close unless I have my reading glasses on, I’m perfectly fine with either killing or co-living with spiders. AS LONG AS I CAN’T SEE ANY DETAILS.
JENN: No spider picture here, Julia, but you might want to scroll past Lucy's section!
LUCY BURDETTE: Oh you guys would have FREAKED OUT if you’d seen the spiny orb-weaver spider on our deck. She (or he) had made a big web overnight blocking off 2 of John’s tomato plants and two of the seats that we use a lot. I looked it up--a good spider that eats many bugs. But still...John relocated her…
I am also afraid of car crashes. However, you are never going to convince me that this is irrational!
DEBORAH CROMBIE: Oh, I LOVE orb spiders. One year we left one on our front porch for months (until Halloween, actually) because it was so fascinating to watch and the webs are so beautiful. I laugh at people who are afraid of mice. I mean, what is a mouse going to do to you? And why is climbing on a chair going to protect you from the evil mouse?
But, I have to admit it, I am totally freaked out by cockroaches. I don’t mean the little brown ones, I’m talking about the big, black, waterbugs. Ack!! I shriek! I drop things. Or throw things. Once I threw a whole twenty pounds of dry cat food in the air when a roach ran out of the bag. These things don’t hurt you--why do they make react like someone in a bad horror film?
JENN: Creepy crawlies don't bother me...much. Unless I walk through their cobweb - ew - or they fly/slither right at me. So long as we respect each other's boundaries, we're good.
What about you, Readers? What's your irrational fear?
Okay, I don’t particularly like spiders, I dislike mice [and hamsters and all those beady-eyed things], and we have nightlights everywhere so it isn’t really dark in the house.
ReplyDeleteBut if I’m honest, I’d say that my irrational fear is being lost. Maybe it’s because I’m so bad at directions, but that’s the palm-sweating, fear-inducing irrational thing that scares me the most . . . .
I have no sense of direction, Joan, but I learned a long time ago (I was 14 and got lost in the woods for hours - scared my family to bits!) that all roads lead home...eventually :)
DeleteSnakes and flying. Shudder.
ReplyDeleteSo flying snakes...??? Seriously, hugs. Hub hates flying - it’s terrible to watch him get all knotted up over it.
DeleteFLYING is the worst!!! My husband asks me - what do you think is going to happen? My reply - planes can just fall out of the sky you know! Yep irrational but very real!
DeleteSnakes. If I see one and I am closer than ten feet from it I levitate. I also don’t like going outside late at night. Our yard is fenced. The front gate is locked. But I still don’t feel safe.
ReplyDeleteI can still spook myself outside late at night so I get it.
DeleteI can handle spiders, but, of course, I've never come across an extraordinarily big one. It's grasshoppers and crickets that unhinge me. Grasshoppers more than the crickets because the grasshoppers are completely unpredictable in their hopping and flying at you. I've learned to sneak up on the backside of crickets and kill them. Yes, I kill them. I do not relocate crickets. They come in my house, they are dead. My really irrational fear though is my fear that a mouse might climb up the side of my bed and run across me. Ever since I saw a mouse in my bedroom (this has been a few years ago), I've had this fear. I have sticky pads under my bed, three right now, and even though I haven't caught a mouse on them, I still am uneasy. I am usually able to talk myself down off of the ledge about it and sleep just fine, but it's still there, rumbling around in my mind somewhere. And in my defense, years ago I did have a mouse run over my bare foot in the kitchen (when I say years ago, it's been 30 years, hahaha).
ReplyDeleteThe bed is sacred ground. No one should ever feel unsafe in bed, don’t you think?
DeleteYes, I agree, Jenn. I am doing much better with it these days, but I do wish it had never entered my thoughts.
DeleteLightning. Fortunately, we don't get too much of it here in CA.
ReplyDeleteI also am afraid of wind. Unfortunately, we get a lot more of that here, especially in the fall. And when the wind is driving a fire, it's not exactly irrational.
Very good point on the wind. I’ll be more patient with Annie - maybe she knows something.
DeleteWind driving fire and then the fire making it's one wind
DeleteStupidly, I fear height. Not because I'm afraid I'll fall, but because I fear I'll jump. Bathroom scales are high enough for me, thank you.
ReplyDeleteI’ve heard of the compulsion to jump - yes, terrifying!
DeleteReading this has made me realize what a scaredy cat I am. Hallie, I'm right there with you on the fear of lightning. When I was little, lightning struck the power line outside our house and traveled inside, catching the electric thermostat in our kitchen on fire. The fire department came. The house did NOT burn down but would have if we'd not been there to contain the situation. That terror has stuck with me through the decades.
ReplyDeleteWind also freaks me out. Again, bad personal experience with a wind storm.
Spiders freak me out, although I enjoy watching the orb weavers build their webs. It's the ones that come into my house and the ones whose webs I walk into outside that send me into fits.
Basements, however, don't bother me.
Lightning fear seems legit to me - especially after that! I don’t think I’ve seen an orb spider. I feel like I’m missing out!
DeleteI can mark one fear off your list, Annette: that fear of being an imposter you wrote about here recently. I just finished reading "Circle of Influence," and immediately ordered Zoe Chambers #2. You are definitely NOT an imposter.
DeleteYou nailed it at the end, Jenn - slithery things. I - the former organic farmer - am freaked out by worms. (I just shuddered...) After a rain, when they crawl across sidewalks? It creeps me out to walk outside. I KNOW how good they are for the soil. I know how important they are. I just...don't want to look at them or touch them.
ReplyDeleteI also hate tunnels, turtlenecks, anything that closes me in. I keep the top half of the blinds open at night. Claustrophobia seems entirely irrational, I am it. Oh! And walking on grates. Luckily where I live there aren't any. But walk with me in a city and I weave all over the sidewalk trying to avoid them. Who knows if this will be the one time it caves in?
Ha! The grates freak me out, too, but I make myself step on them just to dare it to collapse!
DeleteWeirdly I like being tucked into complete darkness. I can’t sleep if there is any light.
Edith, my father--who died in 1969--would never, ever step on one of those grates, or the old-fashioned basement doors that opened up onto sidewalks sometimes. I still think of him every time I encounter one of either.
DeleteEdith, I can't stand to wear turtlenecks, either. I thought I was the only one! And that it was because my neck is too short, but I think it's actually a wee bit of claustrophobia.
DeleteJenn, I like it dark when I sleep, too. My blinds let some light slip in, and that's why I keep a sleeping mask handy.
DeleteI'm right with Edith. I don't like small places. Also crowds bother me. I hate having to sit in the middle of a crowded room. I hate having to sit in the middle or window on an airplane, and even in an aisle seat, I start to go antsy after more than 4 or 5 hours. I've made it to Europe, but don't know if I could go longer than that, and I really don't mind flying. Needless, to say. I could never go in a submarine. *shivers*
ReplyDeleteOh! I toured a submarine with my dad and sons - aside from being too tall - holy bananas the doors are short - it was insanely compact. I didn’t mind it until the thought of being under all of that water! Then I’d feel trapped.
DeleteSnakes. Np idea why, I've never lived where there are dangerous ones. I used to send my kids into the big snake house at the Bronx Zoo with husband and waited outside. (My fear or deep water is rational - I never really learned to swim)
ReplyDeleteI don't like deep water and I can swim - it's too darn dark down there!
DeleteThe dark. Definitely the dark. Turn on those lights and bring on the sun! And I have done my fair share of shrieking at mice, a few of which have occasionally invaded the cottage and evaded either the cat's jaws or my partner's swift fingers (she picks them up by the tail and flings them out). Eeeew!
ReplyDeleteLOL - that's my response to lizards. Scoop them up and toss them out.
DeleteI was so grateful to see Rhys confess that she, too, is afraid of the dark. I laugh at myself about it -- but I still make sure I turn on a light when I enter a dark room.
ReplyDeleteDeb, I'm that person you're laughing at about mice. Though mine is very specific -- little white lab mice or the ones they sell in pet shops are fine. It is only the filthy, slimy looking ones that make their way into one's home uninvited and leave droppings and shredded paper and occasionally startle me by jumping out of a drawer or running across the room that draw the fearful reaction.
And like Edith, I have claustrophobia. The one weird thing I have figured out about mine, though, is that if I can put my arms up over my head, I can often fight it off. So sometimes in a crowded elevator, I am the weird woman reaching toward the ceiling. Be kind if you ever encounter someone doing that, OK?
My only fear of the dark is that I'll trip over something and break a bone...not that irrational, since I apparently can trip on air.
DeleteI'll try the arms thing next time, Susan!
Neither mice nor snakes are slimy, although mice can carry the fleas that spread bubonic plague, so there's that to worry about.
DeleteAres up? Huh, I thought that was only for choking. Yes, my mom made us do that when we were kids.
DeleteI fear our government will control not only what is read, but what is written. I hope it's irrational.
ReplyDeleteI sure hope so too Jack!
DeleteWell, that's a new fear and, dare I say, not that irrational!
DeleteThe dark - always have a night light. Even travel with one. Mouse/rats - I will stare down a bear but run and scream when I see a mouse. Claustrophobia- yes don’t like being in a confined space and won’t wear turtlenecks. Large bodies of water -father tried to drown me to teach me to swim
ReplyDeleteWon't wear turtlenecks?? Now that's a good one.
DeleteSo you're with Debs and me on turtlenecks, Dru! Love company in my irrational phobias.
DeleteI'm the weirdo here. I love turtlenecks but I think it's because I'm cold at 75 degrees or less.
DeleteI don't wear turtlenecks either, make me feel like I'm choking.
DeleteI don't particularly like spiders and multi-legged insects, but I've grown out of the "scream and run" stage. I think because I can't run. Just stay in your lane, insects, and we're cool.
ReplyDeleteRodents don't bother me. Nor do snakes. I love a good lightning storm and wind...is just wind, I guess. I don't like crowds, but I'm not afraid of them, they're just bothersome.
Gee, what am I afraid of? I guess the closest I get is sitting with my back exposed. Even when I know no one is going to sneak up on me, it's an uncomfortable feeling.
Interesting...I've never thought of that. Will have to choose my seats more wisely.
DeleteStrangely enough I am fine with things that can really hurt me. When we lived in Texas I killed 4 Copperheads outside my house. I’ve snorkeled with a school of baracudas, I’ve snorkeled out alone really far from land No problem
ReplyDeleteRhys, you continue to astonish me.
DeleteGood lord, I'm having heart palpitations even thinking of it.
DeleteRhys, you are awesome. The barracudas would especially freak me out, more than the Copperheads.
DeleteI fear winds. I live in the country where winds come from far and are intense. I sleep upstairs but when the winds try to push my house from the basement, I don't sleep, I shake like your dog Jenn.
ReplyDeleteAlso afraid of heights, cable cars, cableways, funiculars. It was impossible for me to take the ski rails over the Rain Forest in Australia even if I knew I was missing something huge and spectacular.
Heights bother me too. Actually I think it’s being by the edge of a drop, not the height. It manifested itself when I was a young adult. I can’t watch if someone is standing by any kind of significant drop.
DeleteExactly, Pat!
DeleteIt's windy today - Annie has assumed the attached to Mama's leg position.
DeleteI really hate going over high bridges; not sure if I could drive over one myself and if I am riding my eyes are closed. I am afraid of birds or bats in my house. That's the sort of fear i didn't know existed until there they were. With the bat I called someone then hid in another room and worried the bat would somehow get in under the crack in the door. One time while camping a chipmunk ran up my bare leg. The animal itself wasn't so bad, it was those teeny toenails coming up my leg!
ReplyDeleteMy dog is afraid of any sort of fly or bug on the ceiling or climbing the walls. Not sure what she thinks will happen.
High bridges with gratings instead of paved road over them freak me out, too. Aagh, bats.
DeleteOooh, Judi, I don't like high bridges and overpasses either. If I have to drive over one I get quite panicky.
DeleteHallie, I totally freaked at the start of a 20 mile race in 1998 when it led over a bridge that was all grate (see my comment above) and I had to RUN over it! Luckily a kindly fellow runner talked me through.
DeleteI like your dog! She and Annie could be pals.
DeleteSnakes. We had copperheads in Georgia and in Cincinnati, garter snakes who aren't afraid of me or the dogs and give me the stink eye when I bang the ground with my trusty hockey stick.
ReplyDeleteWhen we emerged from the Kom Ombo temple in Egypt after admiring the mummified crocodiles, the gatekeeper waited for me. "You like snake, lady? Is nice snake. Has no teeth."
It was a spitting cobra! I raced the half mile to the cruise boat at top speed.
Oh, gees, that's a workout you weren't expecting! Hub and I were just talking bout black mambas - no, thank you!
DeleteIf it moves faster than I do and is way way smaller, that is kind of a dealbreaker. I kind of love heights, I have to say. But I did think about this because it is pretty fascinating, actually, and I remembered that I am terrified completely terrified of snorkeling. I tried it a couple of times, and almost panicked. Why would that be?
ReplyDeleteHank, I'm not a great swimmer, and was firmly against snorkeling when I was in the Galapagos. But the guide promised me I could do it, and I agreed to try. He had me wear a life vest, which was brilliant! I safely bobbed along, and even ended up seeing a turtle and a chocolate chip starfish that no one else saw. But the best moment was when the Galapagos penguins swam all around and beneath me. I was so glad I'd overcome that fear.
DeleteI can handle snorkeling in the shallows, but out in the big surf? No. I have no sense of direction and I get completely discombobulated out there.
DeleteI will try next time. Truly, I will. For a chocolate chip starfish. And a penguin!
DeleteI just flipped back to read the other comments, and saw Rhys about snorkeling! So amazing!
ReplyDeleteOr crazy! Just kidding, Rhys! Mostly.
DeleteI'm with you, Hank! I don't mind most bugs but centipedes are the worst.
ReplyDeleteWhen Michael Crichton's book Micro was published I was leery because of the coachroach on the cover. I made my niece (who *loves* entomology) read first so she could warn me about the bugs.
Niece: Ok. I read it. What kind of bug do you fear the most?
Me (after thinking a few minutes): Centipedes.
Niece: Worst case scenario?
Me: GIANT centipedes.
Niece: Anything else?
Me: Giant VENOMOUS centipedes.
Niece: You should skip this book.
That's the best kind of niece to have.
DeleteLOL!!!
DeleteYup. THE WORST. XOXO
DeleteA world class centipede once crawled up at me out of a bathtub drain at Lucy's house. AAAAAGGGH! A much smaller one was in the bathroom when we were in Panama - I poked it and it rolled up like a pill bug, so I picked it up in a tissue and put it outside. Scorpions do freak me out. And there's a GOLDEN ORB spider, black with gold banded legs, in Australia... it's the size of a dinner plate and weaves 6-foot webs that are spectacular. They can eat bats and small birds that get caught in their webs, but mostly they eat bugs. The good news: "Orb weavers are reluctant to bite. Symptoms are usually negligible or mild local pain, numbness and swelling. Occasionally nausea and dizziness can occur after a bite." But oh, the nightmares!
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many are left, though, after the fires there. Sad thought.
DeleteI’ve seen several golden orbs in Australia. Luckily safely far away in the Bush. But in Malaysia I was driven around a rubber plantAtion in an open Jeep and there were huge webs between trees. I thought I’d die if we went through one!
DeleteIn this case, bigger is not better. I'd freak out!
DeleteIf I saw a spider eating a bat, I'd be traumatized forever.
DeleteIf I visited Australia I would not be able to sleep for fear of one getting into the bedroom!
DeleteSomehow I must have totally blocked up my scariest memory. Many, many years ago it was wintertime and I was home alone which was strange for me as a mother of 3 young children. But I gloried in being alone for a while with my music cranked up. It was dark but there must have been a bright moon because I happened to look out just as a car pulled into my driveway but didn't come all the way up. Living out in the country as I did I couldn't imagine what was going on. Then all 4 doors opened and many people jumped out and stated running up toward my house! You have no idea how scared I was - I put myself in the closet with the phone that luckily had a long cord.
ReplyDeleteI'm so embarrassed to tell you what that was all about. Christmas carolers! We never before had them out where we lived and my family had gone Christmas shopping, which must have left my mind as soon as they left the garage. Whenever I need a good laugh that is one of the memories I conjure up.
This would be a grand opening to a thriller - The Killer Carolers. LOL!
DeleteI'm afraid of gas stoves because, hey, they're like cooking over a campfire, and ours tried to burn down our house when I was a kid. Plus, you know, there's deadly fumes that can creep throughout your house and kill you in your sleep. I rented a house for a few years, that came with what I called the Death Stove. When I realized it could start leaking gas if my small cat jumped onto it and used the knobs as a booster, I insisted that my landlady replace it with an electric one--even if I had to pay for it.
ReplyDeleteJenn, is your sweet puppy a rescue dog? Don't you have horrible wind and dust storms--haboobs--where you live? Maybe she was caught out in one, once upon a time in her pre-rescue life, and the sound of a strong wind brings back terrifying memories. You might try a thundershirt to calm her when it's windy. And give her a hug from me.
She is a rescue with a host of issues most of which have gone away. She was petrified of the house but now plays in the sprinkler. She didn't like men but the Hub and Hooligans loved her out of that. Now it's just angry voices - we never fight because it will upset the dog. LOL. But her fear of the wind remains.
DeleteOne of my rescue dogs was super scared of a corner from the back hall into the kitchen. He would not go that way until the other dog and I coaxed and coaxed him with lots of treats and loving. Who knows what his hang-up was? Although he did have to pass the Death Stove to get around the corner.
DeleteOh, man, fear of heights. What is it about that? I can't get within four feet of an edge, even if there's a glass wall in front of it. The idea of skiing down a mountain terrifies me, not just because of the need to go down, but the requirement of riding a lift UP first.
ReplyDeleteHallie, when I sold insurance, way back in the '70s, the house of one of my clients was struck by lightning. It fried all their appliances, including a radio, which would not turn off. It was as if it was possessed.
Centipedes freak me out, as do snakes or mice in the house. Outside, no problem, but as Mary says, stay in your own lane, vermin!
But I think my most unreasonable fear is that of my home being invaded. It's only happened once, but we came home while someone (a kid) was in the house. Nothing happened except that they broke a window screen and they ran away, but still. Even in a hotel room I have to barricade the door.
Both my mother and my in-laws were robbed. My in-laws moved. My mom backtracked to her car called the police and went all badass on the drug addled twit who dared to invade her home. She's a force of nature.
DeleteYour mom is my hero, Jenn!
DeleteMine is definitely heights. I know that I can walk within the space/width of say a sidewalk or a bit less, but put me somewhere high and exposed on both sides and I cannot make myself even try.
ReplyDeleteSo those glass floors in high towers are an absolute no? I can respect that. Even without a fear of heights, I get a little wobble-kneed.
DeleteI'm afraid of heights, too, although I have no problem with flying. I especially don't want to be on the top of tall buildings that sway! Very irrational.
ReplyDeleteOh, I don't like swaying buildings. I think that's just survival instincts, don't you?
DeleteI am not myself afraid of heights, but I have this weird thing about seeing any of my children at the top of a mountain or tall building or fire tower. . . I have to physically turn away and close my eyes. I remember my mother having the exact same fear. I used to be afraid of empty, dark houses and scary noises at night, but living in a creaky old house in the middle of nowhere has cured me of that . . .
ReplyDeleteThe hooligans went cliff diving in Mexico. Didn't tell me until later, bless their hearts.
DeleteI have a paralyzing fear of grasshoppers. (and heights and bridges and deep water--I am neurotic --LOL)
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on deep water!
DeleteI'm terrified of frogs and lizards, it has been that way for as long as I can remember. If one touches or gets on me I'll have an anxiety attack and freak out.
ReplyDeleteAZ is not for you. I once found a lizard resting comfortably on my pillow. Picked him up and walked him out. And he was a big one!
DeleteReptiles, all of them. I skip pictures, close my eyes or change the channel and won't waste my money on a movie based on them. Lightning, but like Mark said, thankfully we don't get much in California. As I sit in my apartment, I'm watching strong winds, we are having wind advisories last night and today. Wind in the winter is fine except when we haven't had rain for a month, not happy. Rats, period, rats! Noises at night I can't identify. I think if I keep listing my fears I won't leave for work.
ReplyDeleteLOL. I know once you start thinking about it, the list grows...yikes!
DeleteJenn, I have an irrational fear of my house burning down. I don't know why. I have never had a house burn down... but if I smell smoke, I have to get up and walk all around the house and look at the roof to make sure it's not on fire. Maybe I died in a fire in another life?
ReplyDeleteOh, that's a solid theory, Amy. I mean, who knows where our fears come from?
DeleteMaybe, Amy. I agree.
DeleteOne over from yesterday's posts first. Rhys - I found Atora on Amazon! https://www.amazon.com/Atora-Shredded-Beef-Suet-200g/dp/B017IQ8QFE/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3ORO6U3ECY5BR&keywords=atora+suet&qid=1583166547&sprefix=Ator%2Caps%2C181&sr=8-1
ReplyDeleteNow my irrational fear is snakes. Evan though I know why I'm afraid of being bitten by a snake, I'm still afraid. Snakes in movies, Harry Potter, I'm shivering just thinking of it. Spending my earliest years, 4-11 in the Tropics. In English terms, everywhere south of the Bay of Biscay, that's hot, meant that I was constantly told, "DoNot go near a snake". That was enough to make me jump at worms too. I never go into the snake house in the zoo. I felt everything that Dudley felt in HP #1, when Harry releases the python from it's habitat. We had a black racer snake in the garden a few years ago. I watched from the security of my deck, one story up. But ever since I have an irrational fear of getting wood from the under deck pile because I'm sure it's living there. Solution? Heat pumps. I stay away from the wood pile, irrational isn't it.
Snakes and spiders seem to be the most common fears so I think there has to be some basis - survival?
DeleteI’m afraid of fire. A transformer blew up at the bottom of our yard and sent a surge of electricity to our house causing an electrical fire in the walls of our house in the middle of the night. Luckily, we were all ok but most of the house was destroyed by fire or water damage. So now if I smell smoke, I’m frantic until I find it’s source.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that's irrational at all. Having just had the electrical redone in our old house, I am feeling lucky to have not had an electrical fire.
DeleteFear of heights is my main irrational fear, but I’m also fascinated by the view from up high. This makes for some exhausting internal battles at time.
ReplyDeleteI get that. Fear versus missing out - that's a doozy. Which one usually wins?
DeleteIt’s a pretty even split, I think.
DeleteAbsolutely terrified of snakes but more than that hate being alone in the house overnight by my self. If honeybunch has to be away I sleep on the couch with all the lights on.
ReplyDeleteI used to feel that way until I lived on my own for a couple of years and learned to glory in the solitude but I don't think I'd like it all the time. I'd probably get more pets - heaven forbid!
DeletePrecautions for lightning are sensible. According to the weatherman who spoke to our teachers' group, getting off the (corded) phone and out of the bath should be a rule, because both increase risk of electrocution. To be safe, I've added dishwashing to that list. My brothers made me immune to fears of snakes, bugs, and other crawlies -- in self-defense because they would have tormented me otherwise. It helped me as a teacher. ;-) I am nervous about heights, staying far back from clifftops and now ladders as well. Our fight fighters will check smoke alarms, and while here, replace any needed lightbulbs, preferring that to dealing with "i've fallen" cases. <3
ReplyDeleteI should have listed my fear of heights, as it is a strong one. And, to go with that is the fear of walking across a high bridge over water. When I was in high school, a group of friends and I were going to walk across the bridge over the Ohio River from the Ohio side back home to Maysville, Kentucky. I got to where the water started and couldn't go any further. I had to get a ride across. However, when visiting Niagara Falls and D.C., I was able to walk across the bridges over water because the wide sidewalks kept me well away from the side of the bridge where I could have seen the water.
ReplyDeleteSnakes, heights and fires my parents house burned down in the 70s and my niece and her families house burned down right before Christmas. They still don't gave a home with 2 little kids. So fires especially at night when your sleeping. Thank you for the chance
ReplyDeleteJenn, your poor pooch! My Jax dog isn't afraid of wind, he's just not fond of it, whether warm or cold.
ReplyDeleteFears? I'm a bit claustrophobic and won't get up on more than a 5 foot ladder. My ex used to say I was the only person he knew that was claustrophobic and afraid of heights who made her living in a helicopter.
As for critters, snakes are fine, but I do kill rattlers in the yard to protect my dogs. But spiders, particularly large tarantulas are my special 'get away, get away'. I once saw a video of a man in the South American jungles who had a foot-wide tarantula drop on him. Gave me nightmares. It wouldn't matter if it was non-poisonous, I swear I'd have a heart attack & drop dead on the spot.
I have to go along with those afraid of heights. I just can't do it. My stomach starts to flip and I can feel it in my toes. I do keep trying though (sometimes). Glass floors, elevators, walls...nope. Not going to happen.
ReplyDeleteThe other big one is lizards. Spiders, roaches, snakes...I'm good with small ones. But lizards freak me out. I live in Florida and they are everywhere. I have a bunch that live on my front porch...ceiling! Thankfully only once has one fallen on my head. They just move too fast. I catch them out of the corner of my eye and it startles me. I usually yell. This is unfortunate when they run in my office at the library.
I was completely scared when we went to South Florida and the iguanas were running around on the sidewalks and in the bushes. That is just wrong!
Where the heck were you in FL with Iguanas running around? I live in West Central Fl and have also lived in Palm Beach. Never saw Iguanas anywhere!!! I hate Palmetto bugs AND Cockroaches and not fond of snakes. I usually tell them to go away and they usually do!
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ReplyDeleteDefinitely snakes. I was struck by a copperhead when I was about 5, fortunately it hit my boot and not my leg. Not crazy about other reptiles either. Used to live in the lightning capital of the US . All of y’all that don’t like storms stay out of the Tampa Bay Area, especially in summer. I’m not really bothered by heights but I hate stuff that moves under me, suspension bridges, bouncy upper floors, etc. I live ( and bake) in a basement but I promise that it’s a really nice finished walkout basement.
ReplyDeleteI live in the Tampa Bay area so I get the lightning thing!!
DeleteI’m afraid of birds. When I was about 5, my great grandmother’s parakeet bit me. I think that’s why I’m afraid of them. I’m also afraid of snakes...I can’t even stand to see a snake in a picture or on tv. I’m also afraid of small things that jump — like grasshoppers, frogs, etc. Jenn, my rescue dog is terrified of rain but only if he’s in the house. He is like your dog — shaking so hard I can feel the bed move and his teeth chatter.
ReplyDeleteBirds! wow.
DeleteInsects that buzz around my face really get to me. Crowded places and being stuck in the middle with no way out is a good way to get a panic attack. Heights when I do not have a roof over my head. If there's a roof I'm happy to look out and see things - no roof, not walking out there. I took one step onto the Empire State Building observation deck and said "I'm going to wait for you all in the gift shop thanks."
ReplyDeleteMy fears are just rational ones. No phobias...Boring!
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