(The) Some of our Fears
Photo: this traditional-style ink drawing of a Giant Pacific Octopus graced a wall mural at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Seattle. This beautiful eight-legged cephalopod is my favorite animal and bears no resemblance whatsoever to a different eight-legged creature of which I am terrified. Last Friday, I had to confront one of my fears - I was tasked with picking up and delivering a gigantic sheet cake for the 80th birthday of a friend. I accept that carrying a cake, dropping a cake, or watching a cake buckle in the back seat of a car, are small fears in the big scheme of things. There are, clearly, much worse things to be afraid of. Like spiders. That's another fear of mine. It is sometimes debilitating and life-altering. There are things that I simply cannot do: spend time in an attic where the population ratio of arachnids to humans is unknown, cut machete paths through jungles in tropical countries, enter an enclosed outdoor space (like a public toilet in a campground) wit...
