Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Saving the Limas and Fears Reestablished

I've officially made the attempt at saving the limas. It rained HARD last night and I was hopeful, as you suggested, that a good water blast would push them off. There were less this morning, so I hit the remainder with some insecticidal soap and there were fewer of them there this afternoon. I don't know if the vines will recover, but I'm all for giving them three more weeks of TLC to decide what they're going to do before I throw my hands up.

I attempted to get a family picture taken during this year's vacation, but we just couldn't contain those children without straight jackets. One was always running off after a shell or a rock or just grains of sand. We did manage an entire week at the beach without getting fried, however, so I count this as a success.
Of all of the things we did on vacation, both children, oddly enough, were enamoured with the lighthouses that line the Outer Banks. We saw the Bodie Island lighthouse, which was shrouded in cloth and scaffolding for repair, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and the Currituck Lighthouse pictured below.
There was an entrance fee to climb this lighthouse and we all stood dutifully in line, bought our tickets and climbed to the first landing. Half way up to that first landing (there are 9 total) my heart started pounding in my ears, my stomach sank, I started to sweat and then came the welling tears for no reason whatsoever.
Then I realized.....I'm terrified of open, plank staircases.
It's just ridiculous. I always was nervous on them and avoided them as a kid and even remember going to the back door of a neighbor's house so as not to have to climb their slotted front steps. My old day care sitter also has backless stairs to her front door and they make me pause, but never panic.

I must say, I freaked slap out with no warning. I watched the boy, girl and man make their way to the second landing and stammered out something about waiting there for them while I tried to contain the tears that were looming on the brink. I gathered my nerves while I read the entire storyboard on that first landing because I knew I had to get down the same steps I just came up. I held my breath, hugged the wall and refused to look at the steps as I descended. Then I allowed myself the luxury of panicking over the boy and girl who made it up and down without a peep of trepidation or whine of lethargy and begged to climb Hatteras the next day.

I suppose old, irrational fears stick deep.

The morning comes early. May your have sweet lima living and not staircase of terror dreams.

MAN, was I terrifed. I can't get over it. For no good reason and no moderate trepidation beforehand. It hit me like cans tumbling from an ill stacked shelf. It was just ridiculous, and I keep playing my reaction over and over in my head and still find it ridiculous. I'm obsessing, obviously.

13 comments:

  1. Heck, the sound of wind at night used to do that to me. I think it was from watching "A Farewell to Arms", where Jennifer Jones was frightened of rain in the night. She feared dying in the rain. Mine just happened to be wind. Yes I'm old enough to know who Jennifer Jones was, and her co-star, Rock Hudson. I believe it was filmed the year I graduated.

    Mr. Granny and my two oldest boys climbed lighthouses when the kids were like 4 and 6. I stayed on the ground. Just couldn't do it. I'd have been in a panic, just like you.

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  2. Oh, that's terrible about the steps! I have a new one, bridges that incline and decline i.e. can't see the other side over the crest! I panicked for the first time 2 years ago crossing the Potomac River, and now I get it on the Oregon Inlet bridge on the Outer Banks! Talked to my brother who is an Air Force pilot and knows about these things and said it is a depth perception thing. Got my eyes checked and sure enough, my depth perception is off just enough that I get vertigo like symptoms on these types of bridges! I usually switch drivers and have hubby drive over, but he's gone and last time I had to do the Outer Banx by myself, white knuckled, humming to myself, I was a wreck!

    That family photo is great!

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  3. Those scares do look a little scary.

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  4. I am terrified of open stairs, too! I totally panicked one time when Mom, Dad and I went for a tour of the National Cathedral and had to go back down reallly slowly. That was years ago, but I'm still not a fan at ALL. I don't blame you!!

    Your cousin, Emily

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  5. We used to go the the Outerbanks for the first 5 years of my daughter's life. The last year she wanted to do the lighthouse thing. It was right before my husband's knee replacement and he was not climbing any stairs. Guess who got stuck doing the climb. After the 3rd light house, I quit.

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  6. So glad to hear that whereas I may be a neurotic nut, I'm a neurotic nut with good company. ;)

    You know, I'm NOT a fan of sand either. I can't stand to have it on me or watch the kids play in it. As an after thought, I figured it would be the sand that would give me the most trouble on the beach, but it was fine.

    Emily! I didn't know you still came around here. Very cool. Candidly, the stairs in your house kind of had me on edge as a kid. The landing always threw me off my game going down them. Kisses for the family.

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  7. I love the picture of the stairs! That should definitely go on a wall somewhere.

    Hopefully your Limas recover. I'm battling cucumber beetles at the moment.

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  8. Thanks, Thomas!
    I was trying to channel Dan while I was taking it. I should have gotten more of the window on the bottom left to give it some perspective. You can't see the window anymore now that I spotlighted it. I'm trying to figure if I want that one framed or the one without the spotlight effect.

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  9. Narrow bridges and open stairs give me the willies too, but I can usually get myself to navigate them if I just focus on looking ahead, but there has to be railings. But there's no way I'll do an elevator with a glass floor or walls, no way, uh uh, you would have to sedate and blindfold me.

    It sounds like you had a great vacation. And I'm happy to hear that you're getting those nasty bugs under control, good luck on finishing them off.

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  10. Sounds like a classic panic attack. Poor you. It's not ridiculous, it's a brain-wired thing.

    Good thing the whole vacation wasn't like that!

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  11. Awww, sorry to hear about your issue with the stairs. :(

    Hope the lima's make it!

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  12. Christabel!!!!! I'm so glad to hear from you. Hope you're doing okay.

    Michelle, it's good to know I'm not alone.

    Stefaneener, I was figuring it was a panic attack, but since I've never had one before, I found it kind of odd and interesting.

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  13. I wouldn't obsess. We all have our issues. I hate bridges and heights. You should have seen me on top of the Empire State Building. That did not go well. Poked my head out for a second and said, okay, I'm done...Kids were laughing at me, but I didn't care...

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