Saturday, September 22, 2007

Any Irrational Fears?



Okay folks, here's the deal. I am afraid of snakes. I can't stand them. They give me the heebee-geebees (however you spell that)! But my fear of snakes has been fairly dormant in the past few years. See no evil, fear no evil. However, I like to go for walks and runs on the canal path located behind my apartment complex and I've recently found myself watching all the twigs on the path very carefully to make sure none of them looked too snake-like. I wasn't even sure if snakes lived in this area. I kind of naively hoped that New Jersey didn't have snakes or something like that. Nevertheless, once or twice when I've been out running during the past few weeks, I thought I saw some very small snakes on the ground in front of me. I couldn't be sure and they were very small so I just did a quick kind of hop/jump move over that area and ran on my way (probably looked very silly). A few days later though, my friend Brittany and I were out on a power walk. It was a beautiful sunny, September afternoon and we were chatting away like normal when all of the sudden we both let out an ear-piercing scream, stopped in our tracks and grabbed one another's arm. Brittany immediately turned around and started running back and I had to catch up to her and tell her to stop. Now what possibly could have been the source of our screams and fear, you wonder? Yes, you've got it. One big, fat lazy snake sunning itself in the middle of the canal path! Dang! My enjoyment of the canal path has just taken a nose-dive. Brittany and I walked back just as fast as our legs could carry us, all the while our eyes were peeled as we nervously kept watch out for any more snakes. Guoughhhh! Yuck! You can give me slugs, bugs, worms, spiders, etc and I'm fine. I'll be brave. I'll touch them or kill them or move beyond them without any problem. But when it comes to snakes, I have no real grasp on reality. My worst fear is that I'll be out for a run and won't see a snake fast enough and my foot will come down on it, and it will be a horrible interaction of the snake squirming and freaking out and me freaking out and being totally spooked from the experience of actually feeling the snake beneath my foot. I hate to even think of it!

So friends, what should I do? Last run, I took a different route--one where I knew I wouldn't encounter any snakes. Should I keep to this new route until the weather changes and I'm sure the snakes will be gone (this should be by October)? OR--Should I somehow try to face my fears and run on the canal path--come what may? If any of you have an irrational fear or good story that you want to share, please do tell!

6 comments:

W. Travis McMaken said...

I hate snakes too. The only venomous snakes in NJ (baring an escape from captivity of some kind) are Timber Rattlesnakes and Northern Copperheads. The former will rattle at you, and the latter are really red. Both are quite large.

A snake can strike only about 1/2 its body length, so if you stay four feet or so away, you should be fine. :-)

Debbie said...

Okay--I am totally as irrational about my fear of snakes and want to know how in the WORLD you took a picture of it!!??? Oh, it wasn't that snake you say? I freaked just seeing the picture on your lovely "Tea and Theology" page. Please take it off soon.

And--my advice (I'm only your mother) is stay away from canals and anything that looks like a canal where a snake would want to live.

Kevin said...

Shannon, I empathize with you as I shared some of my fears with you... Can you imagine what it would look like if I reacted to the thing I was a afraid of the same way you reacted to the snake?

Thel said...

Ohh, yes, I was just writing about my own spider phobia! I have no good advice for you, other than to hope that all the spiders go to you, and all the snakes to me: I don't mind them.

I knew someone once who was so afraid of snakes she wouldn't even say the word "snake." She called them "ground animals."

samuel joseph smythe said...

Shannon, remember when we lived in the parsonage in Louisiana? I remember I was playing in the backyard and a garter snake popped out at me! Ahhh! It scarred me for life. And then there was one that swam out of the ditch at our second Louisiana house. Bleh! I share your fear.

Katie said...

The devil took the form of a snake in the garden of eden.