My youngest daughter and I were having a conversation a couple of weeks ago about irrational fears and how they change when you become an adult.
I remember being afraid of the dark when I was a little child. I called it the "darkening". I used to be afraid of the proverbial "monster under the bed" too. I never wanted to get up and use the bathroom at night because I was afraid the monster would get me. On the rare occasion when I would get up, soon as I got back to my room I would hurry and jump into the bed before the monster would get me! I pretty much got over that fear and I actually like when it is dark, mainly because I can go to bed haha. I will admit that on a rare occasion, I still sense that monster under the bed and hurriedly jump into bed to avoid it. But that happens maybe once every couple of years so nothing to be concerned about!
I used to be afraid of dogs too. I don't even know why I was afraid of them. I have never had a dog bite me or attack me in any way, but that fear may have stemmed from the German Shepard that lived down the road from us when we were kids. Every time we would ride our bike's down the road, there he would be waiting, and he would rush out to the edge of his yard and bark furiously at us, but he never left the yard. I think he was all bark and no bite maybe? I am not afraid of dogs anymore unless they are pit bulls because those babies can tear you apart if they set their mind to it. I know, people say they get a bad rap, but if by chance you happen upon one of the bad ones, you could die or be mutilated in terrible ways like on the bodycam video I saw on YouTube, where the pit bulls attacked a lady and chewed her foot off and part of her face. So yeah, they terrify me.
My son used to be afraid of bridges when he was little. Any time we went over a bridge, he would close his eyes and one time in Louisiana we were crossing a 20 mile long bridge in the swamp in a storm. I'm not sure if it was quite that long, but it was long and with very few places to get off . Anyway, he ended up crawling down on the floorboard of the car and riding most of the way there. Not sure what he thought that would accomplish, but I guess he felt safe down there! I never had a fear of bridges, although there was one in South Carolina called the Cooper River Bridge in Charleston that I really hated to drive over because it was narrow and you could feel it swaying and I was always happy to get across that bridge. I guess they built a new bridge to replace that one so maybe if I ever get up to Charleston again, it might be a bit more pleasant to drive over.
So, all of this brings me to the bridge I walk over. For some reason, when I got to the top of that bridge the first day, I had a thought "I hope the bridge does not collapse". Out of the blue that thought came to me, but of course I brushed it off and went on over and back and the bridge did not collapse. Two days later, I read online where some guy who drives that bridge everyday was complaining that something wasn't right with one of the expansion joints on the bridge. I didn't think much about it until the next time I go to walk over the bridge. Once over, I turned around to head back and I see all these trucks and guys parking on the bridge and on the side of a couple of the trucks it said "Bridge Inspection". And they were closing the bridge so I hurriedly got to the other side. A couple days later I read online that they did indeed find a problem with the bridge expansion joint. I guess one of them was warped or something. Not sure how serious it is and I haven't been back over the bridge, but not because of that.
First of all, I had company for Thanksgiving and also many commitments with my granddaughter's various activities. But that is not the reason either. The real reason is because I was at the high school my granddaughter will be attending next year and I fell going down the stairs. Somehow I missed that last step and landed on my knee HARD. By the sound of it, I thought for sure I had broken something, but then I thought "I hope no one saw that" and I hurriedly stood up and was able to walk. It hurt like heck for a couple of days, but I am fine now.
I guess I will get back out there and do my bridge walk and hope it does not collapse with me on it! So if you don't hear from me again, that is what happened...
Lia
12/03/2025
