Fear Factor

I don't get scared easily. For the last almost 28 years, this t-shirt has pretty much been my philosophy:

While I don't worry about staying alone, travelling alone, towing horse trailers, or teaching children, there are a few things that do frighten me:

• phone calls in the middle of the night
• icy roads
• needles
• the dentist (see above)
• possums in the barn
• 4th and inches
• kickers
• novice boat drivers

I was pretty impressed with myself recently when I decided to swim clear across the cove without the aid of a floatation device. There was some discussion when Shelly did it as to how far it actually is, but I'm sure it's at least a mile. Or maybe five. :)

And since I was over there, I decided to throw caution to the wind and jump off the high dock. I really didn't think it would be a big deal, but it's a LOT higher than it looks! Trust me. I had to think about it for a bit, and talk myself into it. Jennifer was there to offer encouragement, "Just jump Mom!" She also served as a witness, as it may never be repeated. At least not with an audience larger than one.

I'm sure my form was not as good as Andrew's, and I didn't even think about jumping off the railing like crazy Shelly, but I jumped. And I was feeling pretty brave. And proud.


So I'm feeling all brave, smug, and fearless when I walk into the laundry room to check the dryer and meet this guy.








Was I scared? You betcha! Did I scream? Blood curdlingly! Did I take this picture? Um, no. I didn't stick around that long.


And now, I would like to invite family and friends to join us at the lake for Labor Day weekend. I'm sure he'll be gone by then....


And I should add one more to the list:

• small flying rodents

So, what scares YOU?