Because Irrational Fears are Fun!

28. A picture of something you're afraid of.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you my irrational fear of birds.

 

Yes, most are harmless. They will do nothing more than sweetly chirp away in the trees, providing beautiful ambient music for a nature-filled afternoon. Some eat mosquitos. Some dive bomb you while you're standing on a porch nonchalantly talking to a neighbor. Some chase you as you walk with childish carefree abandon around the Tulsa Zoo. Some honk at you incessantly on romantic strolls around ponds.

 

I'm not a fan. I think, deep down, they know that and they seek me out.

 

Irrational, yes. Totally unfounded, I think not.

 

I have faced my fear on multiple occasions. At a Renaissance Faire I once held a Redtailed Hawk on my arm for, like, a minute and a half or something because my friend's mom really wanted me to. It was a very nice, well-trained bird and my mind was about to explode. And on our honeymoon, in an effort to feel like less of a failure after the snorkeling debacle, I held a large parrot/macaw type thing on my shoulder without incident. And then a monkey bit me. I think they conspired.

 

I blame the peacocks and geese at the Tulsa Zoo growing up.