Do You Have Any Phobias?

[Kerry]

Well, it really [doesn't] matter much where you are,
'Cause home is in your heart - it's a feeling that you wake with one day.
Some people keep runnin' all their [lives]
But still find they haven't gone too far -
They don't see: it's a feeling inside - the feeling inside.

Lovely words, Barbara. Reminds me of the old Flanagan & Allen song, "Home is where the Heart is."   

[Kerry]

As for spiders, I like them; they bring good luck according to German fairy tales.

Hmmm, maybe German spiders are cute, but Australian spiders are definitely not cute. They are big and hairy and deadly. We have a barking spider and also bird-eating spiders. That's big! If they bite you and you are not treated with antivenene in time, you will literally die! Having said that, however, we have the superstition here in Australia that the presence of a spider in your home is supposed to foretell the coming of wealth. If you kill the home-invading spider, the result is supposed to be that you will not get the money promised by its presence. I suspect this superstition came down to us from our English forebears, where spiders are probably small and cute, just like your spiders in Germany! Personally, I'd prefer to be poor and alive! 

[HerrKaiser]

and actually, the use of tinsel and garland on Christmas trees that started a many decades ago in germany is symbolic of spider webs.

[Brown Eyes]

Fear of closed and confined spaces is my main fear from the ones listed in the poll.  I once went on a tour of some caves (with tour guides and a big group of tourists... and my parents) and I almost had a panic attack.  It was awful.

[David In Indy]

Fear of closed and confined spaces is my main fear from the ones listed in the poll.  I once went on a tour of some caves (with tour guides and a big group of tourists... and my parents) and I almost had a panic attack.  It was awful.

I know what you mean, Amanda. I always feel like if something happens, I won't be able to get out of there. Almost as if the walls are closing in on me.

Hmmm, maybe German spiders are cute, but Australian spiders are definitely not cute. They are big and hairy and deadly. We have a barking spider and also bird-eating spiders. That's big! If they bite you and you are not treated with antivenene in time, you will literally die! Having said that, however, we have the superstition here in Australia that the presence of a spider in your home is supposed to foretell the coming of wealth. If you kill the home-invading spider, the result is supposed to be that you will not get the money promised by its presence. I suspect this superstition came down to us from our English forebears, where spiders are probably small and cute, just like your spiders in Germany! Personally, I'd prefer to be poor and alive! 

YUCK!! 

The cicadas are already coming out here. My dog just caught one in his mouth and released it into my house. He's released 5 or 6 of them in here already. They're coming out earlier than normal this year. I guess they're anxious to crawl out of their nests after all the cold weather we had. God, I hate those things.

[Kerry]

The cicadas are already coming out here. My dog just caught one in his mouth and released it into my house. He's released 5 or 6 of them in here already. They're coming out earlier than normal this year. I guess they're anxious to crawl out of their nests after all the cold weather we had. God, I hate those things.

I have a real soft-spot for cicadas, David. We had big old trees in our garden, when I was a child, and they would literally (well, it seemed like it to me at the time) vibrate with cicada song each Summer. I would collect them (alive), along with most other little boys my age. We tried to collect all the different beautiful colours, the most sought after being the Black Prince, with the jewel on his forehead. Last Summer I had a friend visiting one night. We were chatting over a glass of wine. A beautiful lime green cicada flew in the door and landed near a lamp, close to my friend. Now, this guy is straight, 6'2", and thick-set like a Rugby player. Well, I've never seen anyone scream so loud and jump so high in my life! He jumped to the other side of the room. I picked up the cicada and stroked it, and tried to show my friend how cute it was. But he would have none of it. He wouldn't return to his seat until I'd released the cicada back to the Summer night sky, from whence he'd come. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I guess! (and terror, too!) LOL      

[David In Indy]

Kerry, honey, are we talking about the same thing here?

Because THIS is what I'm talkin' about....





And those red eyes! Ewww! 

My dog keeps catching them in his mouth and carrying them into the house. I have 5 or 6 of them in here. 

They look like flying monkeys. I feel like I'm living in some warped version of the "Wizard of Oz".

  

[Kerry]

Kerry, honey, are we talking about the same thing here?

Because THIS is what I'm talkin' about....





And those red eyes! Ewww! 

My dog keeps catching them in his mouth and carrying them into the house. I have 5 or 6 of them in here. 

They look like flying monkeys. I feel like I'm living in some warped version of the "Wizard of Oz".

  

Australian cicadas sorta look like that, David! But I think ours are plumper and shinier than yours (I'm still talking about cicadas, y'all - LOL) 

That looks a bit like our Black Prince, but not as shiny.

Do American cicadas have a glistening, jewel-like marking on their foreheads?

They're sooooo cuuuuute LOL! 

[Kerry]

Here's an Australian cicada, David, like the one that flew into my living room last Summer:

They come in different colours, primarily green, yellow and black.

[ednbarby]

Hey, David, didn't you have an Attack of the 17-Year Cicadas a few years back in Indy?  Or was that more in Cincinnati and Dayton?  My brother lives in Dayton, and he said the sidewacks and roads were covered with them.  You couldn't walk outside without stepping on several, even if you tried not to.  Ewwwww.

Right now in South Florida, the "love bugs" are mating.  So when you drive anywhere on the Turnpike for any length of time, your windshield becomes littered with black and red.  Ugh.  But then again, as my Dad says, "As bad as that is for you, consider how bad their day just got."