C
Carl & Polly & Bob (GA)
Anything that makes you want to curl up in the fetal position and try to hide in a corner? Everybody's got something....
Mine?
SPIDERS!!!
Some of you lately have posted heinous pics in your condos of furry, humongous creepy crawly spiders. And upon seeing those pics, I quickly clicked the "back button" and got the hell out of dodge. Sorry, couldn't stick around to post in them.
Don't know exactly why, but spiders creep me out. Badly. I think it's the number of legs, perhaps. The overwhelming majority of creatures in the "bug-world" are perfectly happy and satisfied with only six legs. But spiders? They have to have eight of them. Why? I'm pretty sure that Mother Nature gave them an extra pair of legs just so they could more effectively stalk and chase ME. That's the only logical explanation I can come up with.
I have a "binding contract" with any spiders who happen to choose to reside under my roof. They are allowed to be on the ceiling, or the walls. If they can manage to crawl around on the walls or ceilings, more power to them. I can't. But they aren't allowed to step anywhere on the floors. Floors are for humans, and in my case, cats. Spiders are forbidden to touch the floor. Because if and when they do, I know it's for only one reason. They're coming after me. nailbite_smile
My house is pretty old, older than even I am. It was built sometime in the early 50s, and I'm sure there are millions of little hidey-holes that can house spiders and god knows what else. So if I see a big black spider weave a web in the molding over the door, I'm okay with that. They catch flying insects and other crawly things. I'm cool with that. But I make it a point when I see a new one to explain to him or her that there are defined boundaries here. Step foot on the floor, and you'll become a part of it. Permanently. Or at least until I scrape your squished body off the floor and flush it down the toilet. Most spiders are cool with the house rules.
So I'm thinking I need to address this phobia? Today, I'm cruising down a trail, and I see a huge web to the side of the trail. With a spider big enough to see easily from 10 feet away in the middle of it. Didn't even slow down, just thanked my lucky stars it wasn't across the trail! Been there done that, and you wouldn't have wanted to see it. Not only did it totally gross me out, to have a nasty sticky spider web across my face.... but a minute or two later, when I felt something crawling up the back of my neck, things got ugly. You have never seen an ATV stop quicker, or the rider jump off it quicker. I did what I call the "spider dance" accompanied by the sound of screaming that would have made a teenage girl at a horror movie proud. If someone had caught it on video, it would have went viral, trust me.
But on my way back down the trail, I thought..... I need to face my fears. So I stopped alongside the trail. I took out my camera bag (which I carry every day to work because you never know what sort of miracle you might see), and thought "You can do this, Carl. You can take a picture of this creature from Hades". Nope, the zoom lens is too long. Can't get a closeup with a 600mm lens. So I switch lenses to the short one. I mess with a bunch of settings, and end up on "macro". Which means I have to get really really close to this spider in order to get a clear focus. OMG!!! How close? The spider was about 5 inches long, and I had to get closer than 5 inches from it to focus. You gotta be kidding me? If I get that close, it could actually reach out and touch me, right? No way!
But I did it. I looked at my hand on the focus ring, and it was about two inches from the giant maw of this beast. I'm striking a deal with the spider, saying "I promise I won't mess with your web, or touch all the dead dried out whatever they are wrapped up in silk you've got stored in there. Promise. All you need to do is just stay perfectly still for a few seconds while I hit the shutter button....please?" Apparently, she bought into the deal. And here's the result:
Around here, people call them "banana spiders" but it's a "golden silk orb-weaver". It still creeps me out. It's got hair on it's legs for crying out loud. And what looks like daggers for feet that could probably poke your eye out! And it's head, I swear, looks like a skull to me. I ain't touching it. But if one was in my house, and it touched the floor.... rather than squash it, I think I would be okay with just opening up the door and inviting it to go outside where it belongs. And hope it doesn't just go out there and invite all of its friends to come on in for a party before I can manage to slam the door shut! I call that "progress". :lol:
So, anybody else have a "kryptonite"?
Mine?
SPIDERS!!!
Some of you lately have posted heinous pics in your condos of furry, humongous creepy crawly spiders. And upon seeing those pics, I quickly clicked the "back button" and got the hell out of dodge. Sorry, couldn't stick around to post in them.
Don't know exactly why, but spiders creep me out. Badly. I think it's the number of legs, perhaps. The overwhelming majority of creatures in the "bug-world" are perfectly happy and satisfied with only six legs. But spiders? They have to have eight of them. Why? I'm pretty sure that Mother Nature gave them an extra pair of legs just so they could more effectively stalk and chase ME. That's the only logical explanation I can come up with.
I have a "binding contract" with any spiders who happen to choose to reside under my roof. They are allowed to be on the ceiling, or the walls. If they can manage to crawl around on the walls or ceilings, more power to them. I can't. But they aren't allowed to step anywhere on the floors. Floors are for humans, and in my case, cats. Spiders are forbidden to touch the floor. Because if and when they do, I know it's for only one reason. They're coming after me. nailbite_smile
My house is pretty old, older than even I am. It was built sometime in the early 50s, and I'm sure there are millions of little hidey-holes that can house spiders and god knows what else. So if I see a big black spider weave a web in the molding over the door, I'm okay with that. They catch flying insects and other crawly things. I'm cool with that. But I make it a point when I see a new one to explain to him or her that there are defined boundaries here. Step foot on the floor, and you'll become a part of it. Permanently. Or at least until I scrape your squished body off the floor and flush it down the toilet. Most spiders are cool with the house rules.
So I'm thinking I need to address this phobia? Today, I'm cruising down a trail, and I see a huge web to the side of the trail. With a spider big enough to see easily from 10 feet away in the middle of it. Didn't even slow down, just thanked my lucky stars it wasn't across the trail! Been there done that, and you wouldn't have wanted to see it. Not only did it totally gross me out, to have a nasty sticky spider web across my face.... but a minute or two later, when I felt something crawling up the back of my neck, things got ugly. You have never seen an ATV stop quicker, or the rider jump off it quicker. I did what I call the "spider dance" accompanied by the sound of screaming that would have made a teenage girl at a horror movie proud. If someone had caught it on video, it would have went viral, trust me.
But on my way back down the trail, I thought..... I need to face my fears. So I stopped alongside the trail. I took out my camera bag (which I carry every day to work because you never know what sort of miracle you might see), and thought "You can do this, Carl. You can take a picture of this creature from Hades". Nope, the zoom lens is too long. Can't get a closeup with a 600mm lens. So I switch lenses to the short one. I mess with a bunch of settings, and end up on "macro". Which means I have to get really really close to this spider in order to get a clear focus. OMG!!! How close? The spider was about 5 inches long, and I had to get closer than 5 inches from it to focus. You gotta be kidding me? If I get that close, it could actually reach out and touch me, right? No way!
But I did it. I looked at my hand on the focus ring, and it was about two inches from the giant maw of this beast. I'm striking a deal with the spider, saying "I promise I won't mess with your web, or touch all the dead dried out whatever they are wrapped up in silk you've got stored in there. Promise. All you need to do is just stay perfectly still for a few seconds while I hit the shutter button....please?" Apparently, she bought into the deal. And here's the result:
Around here, people call them "banana spiders" but it's a "golden silk orb-weaver". It still creeps me out. It's got hair on it's legs for crying out loud. And what looks like daggers for feet that could probably poke your eye out! And it's head, I swear, looks like a skull to me. I ain't touching it. But if one was in my house, and it touched the floor.... rather than squash it, I think I would be okay with just opening up the door and inviting it to go outside where it belongs. And hope it doesn't just go out there and invite all of its friends to come on in for a party before I can manage to slam the door shut! I call that "progress". :lol:
So, anybody else have a "kryptonite"?
They are close to kyrptonite here! For the most part, I ignore them, but anything with venom that wanders into the yard gets convinced to go away with the help of my garden hose. ;-) 
