A friend and I were chatting on the phone and we were talking about things we were afraid of. And I immediately thought: Thursday 13 topic!
So here are 13 things I'm afraid of:
1. Dogs in Lowes, or any other store, for that matter. They don't belong there. I'm allergic to them, for one thing, and they all shed. Big dogs are scary. I have left carts sitting in stores and left because there have been dogs in grocery stores. Like I want to put my tomatoes in a cart where some dog has had its butt sitting. Eww. I wouldn't even want to put my light bulbs there.
2. Barbed wire fences. If you've ever climbed over one of those and snagged your pants, you'd know why I'm afraid of them. You can get caught and then suddenly you've flipped and turned upside down until your britches tear so you can get free. Most of them are rusted, so you'd better have a current tetanus shot or you could end really sick if the barbed wire pierces your skin.
3. The current administration. We are living in a crazy scary time, when up is down and things are topsy-turvy. When January 6 was a "tourist walk" and Neo-Nazis can march through Washington, DC without anyone in power even blinking, we are living in very perilous times.
4. Poison ivy or poison oak. It really doesn't matter to me which one I run into, they both make me break out in a horrible rash that requires a steroid to relieve.
5. Forest fires. There's nothing scarier than watching the mountainside burn. I've seen several of these up close and personal - I was sent to cover them occasionally when I wrote for the paper. Hot, burning, embers crackling, brush falling all around you, men yelling. The fear of being trapped behind the fire line and no one realizing the silly news reporter was up there. My husband, who was a firefighter, also fought several mountain fires when he was younger. I remember going to the grocery store and buying cases of water to take to the command station for the firemen, a very long time ago.
6. Ticks. When I was a kid, these didn't scare me so much, but apparently now they carry loads of disease and I want to stay far, far away from these tiny little villains. I know many people who've gotten ill from them.
7. Snakes. I have always been afraid of snakes. When I was about 4 years old, I was playing outside with my doll near a tree. I was also using the tree as a being, and for some reason it had been a bad being and needed whipping. When I went to whip it, I looked down and there was a snake wrapped around the tree. I ran inside to my mother, and I was so frightened all I could do was stand there and point. I remember her saying, "What is it?" and then rattling off things until she finally said "snake" and I nodded. She called my father, who came home from wherever he was - I think he may have been a police officer then - and dispatched the snake.
8. High wind. I was in a tornado once, when I was in the high school band. We didn't realize there was a tornado, just that we all needed to move away from the window of the restaurant we were eating at because the winds were terribly strong and there was hail. After the winds washed over us, the sun burst out, and then the winds returned. After we all piled back into the bus, we saw that just down the road, there was the path of the tornado. It went down the mountainside, through an outdoor movie theater, and it was quite the mess. I was young then and didn't realize the danger. The 2012 derecho that came through and left a lot of folks without power was also incredibly scary and very dangerous. We were watching TV and didn't know there was a forecast for high winds. Suddenly whoosh - it was like a wall of wind hit the house. Strong winds make me very nervous.
9. Public speaking. One of the reasons I liked being a news reporter was I didn't have to do the talking. Even in a one-on-one interview, all I had to do was ask questions. People like to talk and once you get them to open up, then it's just a matter of saying "uh huh" or "and then what happened" in the right spots. I have had to speak before groups on occasion and I found it terrifying.
10. Sudden loud noises. I don’t mean fireworks you’re expecting. A noise that goes off when you’re not prepared. A transformer blowing, a truck backfiring, a gunshot somewhere in the distance. That jolt of adrenaline that shoots straight through your spine and makes your heart race. I’ve never liked that feeling and doubt I ever will.
11. Phone calls after 9 p.m. or before 8 a.m. Texts are fine. Scheduled calls are fine. But when the phone rings out of nowhere, especially after hours or before the day begins, my stomach drops. It’s never someone calling to say something simple like “I found your missing sock.” It’s always something that requires emotional bandwidth, money, or both.
12. Being misunderstood. I spend a lot of time trying to be clear, thoughtful, and precise. When someone twists my meaning, or hears something I didn’t say, or assumes something I didn’t intend, it rattles me. It’s not the disagreement that scares me. It’s the idea that my words didn’t land the way I meant them to.
13. High bridges. Not the scenic ones you drive over without thinking. I mean the tall ones with narrow lanes, fast traffic, and no shoulder. The kind where you grip the steering wheel a little tighter and breathe a little shallower. Like the one in Charleston. Or the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel. Long bridges with no escape.
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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list
here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while, and this is my 967th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.
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