Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Making Fun of Your Fears



Spiders freak me out. It is not only the wired evolutionary response to a real threat - spiders can kill. I suffer from a severe case of spider-related trauma. When I was about 8, I was tromping through a field of goldenrods taller than me when I stumbled into a clearing with a tight lattice work of spider webs. As I was flailing about, trying to get the webbing off me, I saw at least a dozen of the huge death-mask meadow spiders scurrying right at me. I got bit at least half a dozen times, raising enormous welts and causing blisters on my ears and hands. The black and yellow argiope is a generally harmless spider, so the main damage was to my fragile ego.



The sight of a spider to this day gives me the willies. But I have learned to live and let live, knowing what a valuable role the arachnids play in insect control.

So my strategy is to laugh at the creepy little predators. Mockery is the sincerest form of disrespect.

1 Comments:

Blogger Laurinda93023 said...

I know the initial fear of spiders well. Summers on Prairie Farm in Illinois running through the corn fields.. when you're five years old corn spiders are not only huge but their webs are like nets and you can't see them until they are covering your face. Now I like spiders. They're good luck in your house not just for pest control but on a magic level they draw luck in finance and they are a very strong symbol of productivity. something to think on.

4/30/2007 10:25 AM  

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