WhiteStar

A Mostly Phobic Post....

Convergence Part II

Yes, I went back. I wanted another basket or two. Just like on Wednesday they were flying out the booth with people buying them in threes and fours.

I also got two more balls of the Gedifra yarn so I can now make a cute little tee or tank, now to find a pattern... any suggestions? I have 500 yards and it knits at 3.5 stitches/inch.

We won't talk about what else I bought. Let's just say I BETTER learn how to do Kumihimo now!

Phobias

I am not a phobic person in general. I do have a thing about fire, stemming from an accident my mother had when I was about a year and half old. She was lighting an old gas stove with a match and the sleeve of her sweater caught fire. My 13 year old brother was there and put out the very small flames and called the rescue squad. No serious damage was done to either my mother or the kitchen. Although I don't remember this at all, it apparently had a lasting effect on me. My mother said before that day the sound of sirens never bothered me, after that I cried every time I heard one until I was about 4.

To this day I dislike being too close too fire, won't use paper matches, only wooden ones. I'd love to learn lampwork and do silverwork but both require the use of flame. Still I consider this to be a fear not a phobia.

I also don't fly. I CAN fly, I just prefer not to. If forced to get on a plane I wouldn't have a panic attack or anything, I just really really don't like it.

But I do have one very real phobia. Parking Garages. I'm not worried about the safety aspect. I have a phobia about DRIVING in them. Put me in a small car and have me drive in a parking garage and I'm very nervous. Put me in my big Ford F-250 4x4 with the sled dog boxes on the back and have me drive in a parking garage and I am terrified.

When I went up to Convergence on Wednesday I drove around for what seemed like forever trying to find parking (Did I mention I HATE cities?). Finally found a little corner lot. When I went up yesterday I was determined to find the parking that is designated for the Convention Center. It was a parking garage. In the interest of "saving time" I decided to go for it.

After stopping several times at the entrance to make SURE my truck would fit (I had at least a 6 - 8 inches of clearance) I ventured in. Big Mistake.

Usually what scares the bejesus out of me is the low ceilings. Even in a small car I am SURE I am going to hit the ceiling. In my truck I am beyond sure, I KNOW it's going to happen at any second. Even when I get out and check and SEE it's okay I am still terrified. Well this garage had a new twist to increase my anxiety to the point where I was hyperventilating.

Ever been to a drive thru that the turning radius of the curbing was so tight you hit it trying to get around from the order part to the pick up window? If you don't drive a big vehicle you probably haven't, but trust me, there are lot of places like that. So you drive over the curb. Big deal.

Well this parking garage had a ramp like that. But instead of a 4 inch curb it was 8 feet of solid concrete on either side. Imagine me, in my big huge truck, trying to navigate up the ramp. Terrified at any minute I'm going to hit the ceiling. Inches to spare on either side of the truck. Around and around and up and up FOREVER. Add to that the irate people behind me honking their horns at my less than 5 mph progress.

There were a couple times I had to stop, I was shaking so badly. Just stop and take a few deep breaths. I was VERY tempted to get out of my truck and go back to the woman (in her itty bitty car) behind me and ask if she'd like to trade vehicles until we got to the top. But the fit was so tight there was no room to open the door to get out!

I made it to the top. Finally. Of course then I had to do it all over again to get out.

I have decided I simply have a serious phobia of driving in parking garages and will just never do it again. Never. I hate the idea that I have what I know is a silly fear. But given how rarely I have to face parking garages, and just how terrifying it is to me, I decided that I'm alloswd to have one stupid, silly unreasonable, heartstopping fear.

Wildlife

I have lived on the high plains of Colorado for 11 years now. Until last year I had heard the coyotes sing many times, but had never seen one. Over the past year I've seen several. Including one a couple months ago in the parking lot of the Barnes and Noble book store in town.

This spring I've caught glimpses of one in my neighborhood. And I know the dogs have seen it several times. I figured maybe it was a mama coyote raising a pack of pups in the meadow near us. Yesterday afternoon, Boom'r, Koshare and Icer were outside and began going nuts. I happened to look out the front window and guess what was in my front yard?

I grabbed my camera and ran outside. By the time I took this picture the coyote was at the end of the driveway. And unfortunately instead of my 300mm lens, I had on a wide angle as I had just been taking some pictures of the pups in the whelping box. So the picture stinks but still.. It's a coyote... in my driveway!

Anne at 7:27 AM