My Fear

I'm afraid my post is going to be late.

Honestly, I've had the toughest time coming with a fear-themed blog.

Is it because I'm fearless? Ha!

In fact my fears are so outlandish that they border on the ridiculous.

My biggest fear is being made an unwilling spectacle. Not that forgoing adventures ever stops me from making a fool of myself, but in my head, at least I have less of a chance.

Case in point: When I was 17, I went to Mexico with 40 other Vancouver high school students and seven teacher chaperones. While in Mazatlan, I had the opportunity to parasail, and mind you I was thin enough to wear a two-piece bathing suit, but I was petrified that the cable--yes, the cable--would snap while I was in the air.

Out of 40 students, only two didn't parasail--even the blind boy went up--and I was one of the two.

Need another one? Alpine slides at Mt. Hood.

Every summer, Mt. Hood opens the alpine slides. You have to take the ski lift up the mountain and then slide down on a toboggan-like thing. Oh, it looks like so much fun. My parents used to camp up near Timberline every Labor day and we'd go up for the day.

And it's not the slide that scares me. I can careen down the mountain with the best of them. No, it's the chair lift up the top of the mountain. Again, my mind goes to the absolute worst, most ridiculous scenario.

I'm afraid of either falling from the chair and having to hang onto the bottom for dear life or stumbling from the chair lift at the exit and falling flat on my face in front of thousands of strangers.

There are probably more scenarios that freeze me into paralysis, but that's a good start. And good enough to make me stand on the bridge as my family rockets past me with glee-filled grins.

Don't even get me started on roller coasters, bungee jumping, and ziplining....Maybe that's why I'm a writer. I can pretend to be brave....and adventurous....and not fall off the chair lift.