My phobia
Living by the sea is supposed to be glorious. It is lovely to look at. It's very nice to be able to take the dogs a walk to the beach and they love swimming there. They are usually the only ones in the water. No human over the age of 12 actually gets in our freezing water -- what is about children and their inability to feel the cold?
But if you know anything about me, you know that I have a fear of the sea. It's a combination of things: the deep water, no "sides" to be able to hang on to, the animals that live there and don't really want you there, the sand in completely inappropriate places. Going snorkelling while on holiday to Hawaii in 2000 and the Cayman Islands in 2002 helped a bit to calm me down. I felt like I had a bit of control.
But my newest sea-related phobia, I have no control over. I fear seagulls. Hate the buggers and they hate me. They want me to die. I have been dive bombed by them on no less than three different occasions -- and I was nowhere near the sea, only near my flat. The last time, me and Boy were coming out of a shop near the house. They were circling over the dogs, who were tied up outside. Boy went ahead and untied the dogs, all the while the birds coming at him. I completely freaked. Wouldn't leave the covered entrance of the shop and began to cry.
See, the seagulls nest on the roofs of the buildings near mine and this is the time of year that their babies emerge. Seagulls are on hyperdrive to protect them. Having the dogs doesn't make it easier, as they attract a lot of gull attention as the birds think they are some sort of predator. It's their cries that put me on edge. Whenever I hear their squawks, I get goose pimples and freeze up, having to force myself to keep walking. Like a mantra I say, "Everyone else is completely normal, nobody else is concerned, so you'll be fine." Sometimes it gets me through. Other times, I have to put up my umbrella. Or, as I now refer to it, my Magic Umbrella That Keeps Me Safe. That was how I was able to escape from that shop. I just happened to have my umbrella with me. Now I go nowhere without it.
But if you know anything about me, you know that I have a fear of the sea. It's a combination of things: the deep water, no "sides" to be able to hang on to, the animals that live there and don't really want you there, the sand in completely inappropriate places. Going snorkelling while on holiday to Hawaii in 2000 and the Cayman Islands in 2002 helped a bit to calm me down. I felt like I had a bit of control.
But my newest sea-related phobia, I have no control over. I fear seagulls. Hate the buggers and they hate me. They want me to die. I have been dive bombed by them on no less than three different occasions -- and I was nowhere near the sea, only near my flat. The last time, me and Boy were coming out of a shop near the house. They were circling over the dogs, who were tied up outside. Boy went ahead and untied the dogs, all the while the birds coming at him. I completely freaked. Wouldn't leave the covered entrance of the shop and began to cry.
See, the seagulls nest on the roofs of the buildings near mine and this is the time of year that their babies emerge. Seagulls are on hyperdrive to protect them. Having the dogs doesn't make it easier, as they attract a lot of gull attention as the birds think they are some sort of predator. It's their cries that put me on edge. Whenever I hear their squawks, I get goose pimples and freeze up, having to force myself to keep walking. Like a mantra I say, "Everyone else is completely normal, nobody else is concerned, so you'll be fine." Sometimes it gets me through. Other times, I have to put up my umbrella. Or, as I now refer to it, my Magic Umbrella That Keeps Me Safe. That was how I was able to escape from that shop. I just happened to have my umbrella with me. Now I go nowhere without it.
posted by Autumn at 6.7.06
3 Comments:
I, too, fear the sea. But I also love it. So wild and vast, yet at the same time so intensely comforting and soothing to my soul. I was born by the sea and I hope to die by the sea.
Well come and visit me here. Those seagulls are more than willing to let you die by the sea -- BY THEIR BEAKS!
I second Z's comments, but I don't hope to die by the sea. The bird dive bombing happened to me in the parking lot at work--same reason, baby birds in nest near the entrance of the building. Like the umbrella cover--good idea!!
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