Moments of sheer terror

wish i lived someplace where i could see foxes in my yard or anyplace that close.
gazillion deer, skunks, porcupines, even mountian lion (cougar/puma) a couple of times,
wolf, bear, coyote, the ever so rare pine martin.
don't know what i might have done to offend fox spirits,
but they've never shown themselves to me on their own.

worst think i was ever bit by was a large grass hopper like thing. not exactly terror but multiple moments of pain. also some serious yellow jacket stings one time helping someone move some stuff out of a dusty garage. no problem with spiders though. had little ones on the boat up in seattle. other places i've teased them hoping to make it rain.

i prefer to face moments of terror in solitude, though i'm also best at avoiding them that way.
idiot humans in my face, probably the most terrifying thing i can think of, mostly wanting money i didn't have.

or just harassing me for not pretending their bullshit they demand everyone else does.

 

We have skunks, foxes, rabbits, armadillos, coyotes, and all kinds of birds--including hawks, cranes, road runners, wild turkeys, and a resident family of crows--hundreds of squirrels (ate all my peaches ), and many many deer (ate all my okra to a nub last night ). The baby deer are too frickin cute though.

I contend that the more concrete and steel you surrounded yourself with, the more you are in hell, not unlike a prisoner in solitary confinement. Of course there is a limit to how close you want to be to nature. When in my novel, one of the characters proclaims his love of it, another one says, "Nature's okay, I guess, so long as it stays on the other side of the window."

 

So---I was on the roof with 3 other guys and I was pulling the ridge cap off a shake roof in the beginning process of repairing it before a power wash. I pulled off 4 or 5 five pieces stuck together with nails and uncovered a HUGE wasp nest. Oh, they were pissed and came boiling up 'outa 'there lookin' to hurt someone! I never saw such sheer terror as was displayed by the other guys on the roof!! They ran into each other trying to get to the ladder, two of the guys jumped off onto the grass of the yard--they were all slapping at their necks and waving their arms around---it was fuckin' hilarious to me!!!

Better explain myself right here. My friend Richard and I grew up where there were wasp nests in just about every yard in town. And usually more than one. Well, being enterprising little dudes of about 8 or 9 years old ( 1947--48 ) we came up with a money making scheme so that we could make some scratch to buy BBs for our BB guns, popsicles, candy bars and the usual shit kids definitely need to make life worthwhile. We went looking in peoples yards for wasp nests and when we found them, we would knock on the door and offer to knock the nests down for 10 cents a piece. We had some wooden paddles and when we knocked the nests down, we would stand right in there and fight those stinging little bastards and of course we got stung sometimes, but by doggies--WE WON!! So now, I will revisit my panicked roofing friends and how they came to believe that I was absolutely CRAZY! I did not run--I picked up a shake and stood right in there and fought those wasps 'till I WON AGAIN!! I still stand my ground when stinging critters come around as I watch others run away! Now ain't life grand??

 

Here in texass you gotta watch out about putting on shoes. The scorpions like to crawl in em.

 

Funny that you mention that--In Jupiter Florida it rained really hard and for quite a while one time and critters were seeking high ground. Day after the rain stopped , I got up to go to work , put my pants on and immediately felt like someone was putting a cigarette out on my ass. Somehow, a scorpion had gotten into my pants and let me have it!!

 

When I lived in AZ I had a scorp crawl up my pants leg... Stung me 5-6 times before I got him out of there.

I was rather displeased.

 

Yes, I can see how you would be.

 

​

 

​

 

Holy crap!!!

 

That was a biiig freakin spider!!!

 

On Bridge watch on a 100,000 ton LPG tanker (not a rowing boat and normally some 40 feet above the sea) whilst passing through a hurricane and looking up at the top of the waves - actually mountains of water crashing down on our decks and smashing into the bridge - not nice at all !!!

 

Yes Zen matey, something like that, only the waves were a lot bigger. If I said to you a 'Kent' screen, would you know what these were ??? - a small round screen immediately in front of the helmsman, driven by an electric motor, The screen revolves at a very fast pace and throws off any water on it so that the helmsman can see where he's going. During the hurricane we had to replace this screen three times because the waves smashed all the windows in the bridge including the 'Kent' screen.


This is a 'Kent' screen. !!!

 

When surfing big waves and you bail or get knocked off, sometimes you get caught underwater in the spincycle out of breath and not knowing which is up. Pretty scary. I've come close to drowning a few times.

 

A tarantula chased you half a block?? He was just trying to say hi Zen- LMAO! He was probably looking for dinner.
Scorpions creep me out too. I’ve been very close to getting zapped on several occasions, so no thanks. I think the biggest one I ever saw was a black scorpion in Saudi Arabia.